A Favorite Tanka

incoming tide
ripples the width of river
I remember
the touch of your hand
gentle on the nape of my neck

~ Janice M. Bostock
   Tangled Hair 2, 2000

The remembering holds much of the power in this tanka, composed by Australian poet Janice Bostok, and the emotional impact is striking. Through the effective use of natural imagery, simplicity, and honest, the oet has conveyed a deeply moving moment. The ripples created by the incoming tide suggest a tingling she perhaps feels at the memory of the soft touch of her lover. Her lover's touch is in the past rather than the present and as the poet watches the tide moving gently against the flow of the river, she is moved to recall the sensation of something she might well never experience again. The middle line of the poem, the memory, is the center. This emotion, too, ripples inward like the tide. Even the location of the touch she recalls, on the back of the neck, adds depth; the back of the neck is a vulnerable place on the human body, and one of the most tender. Not a word here is out of place. This stunning tanka deeply resonates and gets under the skin.

~ Karina Young

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