The Tanka

—an unrhymed Japanese verse form

of five lines having 5/7/5/7/7

syllables per line

You were more than

a savant,

sucking at everything, yes,

but how we gasped

when you scrawled out a

tanka, the only thing

you’ve ever wrote,

your tremor like a

bounce on the Richter

scale,

making something

out of loss

post-accident, contusions

and concussions, the burial

of your beloved

you were unable to

attend; the utterance

of your voice:

the sound of a

marshmallow mouth—

My daughter races,

attempting to catch the birds.

If she had the wings

of a pigeon, she'd leave me,

dropping occasional notes—

rising from your wheelchair,

balanced on a single

leg; a teetering, one-trick

pony

but god almighty

what a trick. 

Andreas Gripp

May 5, 2025

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