ATPO 1: Earth as Poetry (reprint)

REPRINT


ATLAS POETICA 1 – SPRING 2008


Earth as Poetry

Welcome to the premiere edition of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka! New from Modern English Tanka Press, the Atlas strives to bring a new level of innovation, artistry, and appreciation to poetry of place in the tanka form.

A 'place' is not just any geographic place, but a place imbued with meaning. It is a combination of physical features (both natural and manmade) and significance perceived by humans and other creatures. Some places are grand and well-known while others are intimate, personal and experienced only by the poet. All of these special places are important because of the transformation of perception that they grant to the sensitive mind.

'Place' is therefore a locus of the natural and human worlds, the mediator between 'outer space' that contains all that the senses can perceive and 'inner space' which is the realm of the mind. It is the delicate zone through which all life moves. It forms a very thin veneer on the earth’s surface and is fragile, precious, and infinitely variable. It is the place of maps and mysteries, of exploration, discoveries, and disasters. It is the known world and the deep sea; it is the place of security, danger, and dreams.

It is the place where poetry is born and written, and it is the place we invoke when we chant the names of the world. It is an incantation that raises our souls to communion with something larger than ourselves, a place in which we are born, live, and die, our existence becoming part of that place and so immortal, just as that place becomes part of us and so mortal and perishable. Poetry is its natural voice, the song that sings through the ages when the place itself has vanished or been transformed beyond recognition. Poetry is the amber in which the places of the past are preserved.

The advent of space flight has erased boundaries and provided new ways to see our Earth, and so the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA have teemed up to create an online image gallery entitled, "Our Earth as Art." It is from this gallery that our cover photo is taken. That image is not abstract art nor a marbled paper, but a picture of the Anti-Atlas Mountains in southern Morocco as seen by satellite. All future covers of Atlas Poetica will also be drawn from "Our Earth As Art," showcasing different places around the world.

With the launching of Atlas Poetica we invite all readers to see the places of the world through the eyes of poets and to find in poetry the maps that lead them to explore the multitude of meanings manifest in their own special places.

~K~

M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica

"Image courtesy of USGS National Center for EROS and NASA Landsat Project Science Office"

Issue Notes:




TABLE OF CONTENTS



7 Editorial, Earth as Poetry, M. Kei

64 A Brief Statement on Tanka Definitions, M. Kei



8-34 Tanka in Sets and Sequences



8 holy ground, Sanford Goldstein

12 Geriatric Tanka, Barbara A. Taylor

12 This Is the Path, Ella Wagemakers

13 Europe, Alexis Rotella

14 Joyous Lake, Gary LeBel

17 once upon a time, Jamila

17 Manhattans on the Mountain Top, Barbara A. Taylor

18 Ireland, Abigail Greene

19 Tanka Za Connie / Tanka for Connie, Žarko Milenić

20 Three in Autumn, Miriam Sagan

20 Fighting Cloud Women, Barbara A. Taylor

21 Islands in the Chesapeake, M. Kei

22 North of Superior, M. Kei

22 The First People, James Rohrer

23 the old pa, Bernard Gadd

24 The Morning Market, James Rohrer

24 In Ma-Tzu's Court, James Rohrer

25 Closing the Circle, Guy Simser

25 Back and Forth, Guy Simser

26 Winterside, Liam Wilkinson

27 Wien / Vienna, Franz Prietler

28 Dracula între mit şi realitate / Dracula between myth and reality, Magdalena Dale

29 Vechea Temniţă / The Old Prison, Vasile Moldovan

29 The Shape of the Cliff, Megan Arkenberg

30 Round Faces & Nesting Dolls, an’ya and Alexis Rotella



38 Topical Tanka

38 Spring

39 Book Shopping

40 Birds & Butterflies

41 Down to the Sea

43 Dinner & Drinks



44-64 Individual Tanka



65 Announcements

65 Book Note: Heron Sea

66 Obituary: Bernard Gadd



67 International News & Resources

67 Nederlands

67 Deutsch

67 Español

68 Română

68 Hrvatski

68 Magyar

68 Suomeksi

69 Svenska

69 Ελληνικά

70 Русский



71 Index