Eucalypt 7, edited by Beverley George, PO Box 37, Pearl Beach 2256, NSW, Australia. 44pp. 2009. ISSN: 1833-8186. Subscription only: $30 (within Australia) AUD$35 or US$24 (Japan and NZ) and AUD$40 or US$30 (US, UK, Canada & Europe). Information from editor@eucalypt.info or www.eucalypt.info Reviewed by Patricia Prime
The tanka in Eucalypt 7 are of the usual high standard. The collection delivers 118 tanka in a variety of styles from poets around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Ghana, Japan, China, England and South Africa. These thirty-eight pages of tanka, one to four per page, pulse with passion. No dry work here, sensuous and sensual experiences either grab our attention or lead us gently by the hand.
Different images are presented to the reader: Max Ryan’s workman taking his lunch on the beach; Joseph Kleponis’ wondering whether there is meaning in an “abandoned bird’s nest”; Kozue Uzawa’s jet lag. There are quirky images – Owen Bullock’s children fussing about eating onions; David Terelinck recalling childhood days when he was “always third” in the bath; Carmel Summers’ “dream of a prince’s kiss.”
Here’s a pacy, perceptive tanka by Elaine Riddell:
you moved in
as one family –
today
two removal trucks
separate your belongings
Most immediately affecting are the following tanka:
as a child
I wanted to touch the sky
never dreaming
that to touch another’s heart
would be the greater challenge
Irene Golas
strolling
darkened streets
afraid
of what I might see
through broken blinds
Bob Lucky
her bald head
sprouting soft new hair
has she been remade?
exotic crystal ear-rings
swirling silken scarves
Paula Stevenson
Some tanka can be situationally funny yet still touching, as seen in these tanka:
most days
I believe in God
other days
I’m certain he’s this tiny man
behind the curtain
Kathy Lippard Cobb
after five days,
bagpipes and haggis aplenty,
I’m going to flee
old Scotland, the same as
my bandit fathers before me
Michael McClintock
Many of the tanka give us personal moments that are easily recognizable as classic tanka:
across the pond
sunset explodes in bronze
and green fir spires –
we stand hands together
free from the weight of words
John Martell
on this autumn night
of deep apple scented sleep
no troubled dreams
of lilac and lavender
can invade this moment’s peace
Joseph Kleponis
Appreciating the simple is one of tanka’s delights and the tanka that appears in this journal typify Western thoughts. There is much to recommend Eucalypt as it presents the writers’ viewpoints with sensitivity. The tanka here help form a growing body of work, especially among Southern Hemisphere poets and one can only admire Beverley George’s commitment to the form and her ongoing support of tanka poets. Here one finds poems that are sincere, observant and sometimes enlightening.
The volume is attractively presented with design and layout by Matthew George, illustrations by Pim Sarti and cover photograph by Beverley George.
