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Tag Archives: tanka

homework- review- by tom clausen

01 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, Chapbooks, haiku, Haiku Way of Life, Lynx,, tanka, Published Poems, senryu, tanka

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Tags

book review, chapbook, family, family life, haiku, home, homework, life, poems, poetry, senryu, tanka, writing

Homework by Tom Clausen. Saddle-stitched, full color cover, 4″ x 6″, 36 pages. $10., ppd. ISBN: 1-903543-00-2. Order from Snapshots Press, 132 Crosby, Liverpool, L23 8XS, England.

To quote the jacket notes: “Focusing squarely on domestic life, this collection of haiku, senryu, and tanka is often funny, often sad and always paradoxically both familiar and eye-opening.” It cannot be said better nor more succinctly what this newest book by Tom Clausen contains. I can only add my continuing praise for Tom’s work. It is always a revelation and delight how he seizes on the tiniest experience, and through his examination of it and the cool observation his own feelings, carries it over into a major event. This leaves the reader wondering, “Now, why did I not notice that?” and “Why did I not think of that as material for a poem?”. It seems that tanka is especially designed for the methods of Tom Clausen. Even when aware of the smallest thing, he is also aware of how that thing or event is affecting him. This occurs even in his haiku.

While some purists might fault his haiku for not being closely enough aligned with the nature-nature viewpoint, his sensibilities are absolutely accurate for tanka. This collection gains, I think, by the inclusion of his haiku (which often portray the lighter moments of family living). They seem to play off and actually highlight the attributes of his tanka. Altogether, the editing and arrangement of the poems seems especially fine and relevant. For anyone who has grown up in a family or is living in a family now, this book will take away those terrible moments of aloneness when one felt that no one else in the world ever had such moments of doubt, despair and pure undiluted joy. Tom has been there, and he has the courage to face them directly and honestly, and to continue to hang with the feelings until he has created pure poetry out of them.

no longer me
it proves a mystery who it is
I’ve become
walking around this house
with my family there inside

I sort of knew
my coffee cup
was empty –
so much I look in it
just to see

The sensitivity of the editor, John Barlow, is shown in the choice of a drawing done by Tom’s young daughter, Emma Clausen, as cover along with the insider joke of the title of the book – Homework. Delight piles on delight with this one. Review written by Jane Reichhold

this complete enigma by tom clausen

01 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by Tom Clausen in poems and photos, Published Poems, tanka

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

documentation, five lines down, little poems, observation, poems, poetry, tanka, writing

Lynx- XVII:1, February, 2002


out in the yard
the crow caws crazily
as if it knows my life
quite like
the compost i leave…

**


with my son
we pass the house
where he was conceived –
a certain run down look
weeds in the window box

**

not much celebration
to this winter solstice
but the neighbors maple
just big enough for a squirrel
and two bird nests


**



the deep blue sky
goes so far
yet the photo has borders
like those we come to
in our love…



**


its a little flaw
i’ve come to accept
as it may be…
these overmatched feelings
loving too much

**


cold rain
in another town
the streets empty –
from one house
a gift of wood smoke



**



this complete enigma
of me wanting more solitude,
then company in turn
on my terms
at just the right time


**



I have seen the cat
sleep most of the day
and yet seem satisfied
my calendar says to show
a cat a piece of gold


falling apart by tom clausen

18 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, cats, Gusts, mailboxes, nature, poems and photos, Published Poems, tanka, Tom poems at other sites

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Tags

cats, life, mailbox, nature, poems, poetry, tanka

gusts  no. 30

 

the world
may be falling
apart
yet my skittish cat
settles on my lap

I’m not even looking
for anything
second time out
to the empty
mailbox

autumn at treman by tom clausen

13 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in autumn, gorges, Ithaca, lakes and rivers, leaves, nature, parks, paths, poems and photos, tanka, trees, waterfalls

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

autumn, gorges, nature, parks, photos, poetry, tanka, trees, waterfalls

 

 

 

again this year
the leaves fall
and I watch…
the world as it is
a great mystery

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color therapy by tom clausen

15 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, flowers, gardens, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, plants, poems and photos, spring, tanka

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Tags

blossoms, color, flowers, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, spring, tanka

asked to arrange
the flowers in a vase
I put them in any which way-
so glad there are some things
which can’t go wrong

 

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mind reflection by tom clausen

19 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, Ithaca, leaves, nature, parks, poems and photos, ponds, puddles, reflections, spring, tanka, trees, Wabi Sabi, water reflections, winter

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Tags

leaves, nature, photography, photos, poetry, ponds, puddles, reflections, tanka, trees

 

 

my wife asks
what it is I want-
there it is, that question
not even I
can answer

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Sapsucker Woods pond reflection...
Sapsucker Woods pond reflection loop...
Sapsucker Woods logged into a dream...
reflection from Sapsucker Woods boardwalk through woodland back waters. 3-27-17
reflection photo from Sapsucker Woods boardwalk through woodland back waters. 3-27-17
reflection from Sapsucker Woods boardwalk through woodland back waters. 3-27-17.
reflections at apsucker Woods main pond reflections... 3-27-17
reflection at apsucker Woods main pond reflections... 3-27-17
reflection -Sapsucker Woods main pond reflections... 3-27-17
reflection overlays of bare trees in standing water big puddles with their treasury of leaves in Sapsucker Woods 3-27-17.
reflection overlays of bare trees in standing water big puddles with their treasury of leaves in Sapsucker Woods 3-27-17..
reflection overlays of bare trees in standing water big puddles with their treasury of leaves in Sapsucker Woods 3-27-17...
reflection at Sapsucker Woods ...

taken by the wind by tom clausen

05 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, cemeteries, close up details, Ithaca, nature, poems and photos, puddles, reflections, spring, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

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Tags

flag, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, reflections, tanka

the wind
must have carried
the little flag
from a grave to a puddle
at the cemetery gate…

 

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tree dreams by tom clausen

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, Ithaca, nature, paths, poems and photos, puddles, reflections, spring, tanka, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

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Tags

nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, reflection, tanka, trees

so many chances
in a day
to say something to you,
but here it is
growing late

 

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springing by tom clausen

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, clouds, fields, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, poems and photos, puddles, reflections, spring, sun, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

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Tags

clouds, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, sun, tanka

this back road drive
past so many places
along the way
what is it in these hills
just beyond my reach

 

brook beside our house with Late afternoon sun sparkling .. parts of the creek are still frozen and the open water goes under ice in places but was running nicely this afternoon... 3-19-
clouds covered it but were just thin enough that you could look right at the disc of the sun which looked quite a bit like the moon...3-19-17
clouds covered it but were just thin enough that you could look right at the disc of the sun which looked quite a bit like the moon..
clouds covered it but were just thin enough that you could look right at the disc of the sun which looked quite a bit like the moon.3-19-17
clouds covered it but were just thin enough that you could look right at the disc of the sun which looked quite a bit like the moon...3-19-17-
clouded sun
reservoir sun sparkles ...
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december light by tom clausen

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, clouds, fields, gardens, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, parks, paths, poems and photos, ponds, reflections, trees, Wabi Sabi, water reflections, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

art, nature, photography, photos, poetry, ponds, reflections, tanka, trees

 

 

december light…
as i walk around
these aspirations
to keep busy
doing nothing

 

 

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