photo credit: ianmcburnie

The theme for this week is “tango” – quite limited it would seem.

Searching for background information on the word I was happy to see that there was a Japanese reference. I was then able to draw upon my experiences of travelling across Japan to write the poem. The critique it received was very positive, drawing my atttention to punction (which I often neglect) , which is corrected in this version. My original final line was also dropped to give greater emphasis to this ending. Interpretations of the piece were mixed – although one person picked up on the theme of reincarnation that permates this poem.

So here it is :

No Kuni

You spend all your hours with Kami,
An ancestral spirit before your time
Chained to the changing chimes of the sea.
In Tango Province, we met
In the Nara period, people scattered in villages
Whispering their prayers
At the festival of the new Buddha.

Archers on horseback
Gallop past, down the path
To the now frozen stars.
Arrows fly past
Intricate carved treasures from the Silk Road
Wrapped in charm laden scrolls,
Wrapped in curses of gold calligraphy.

The old ways remain
Upon the streets of forgotten Tango Province,
We met when you wore that different name
And I, I expect you do not recognise me
In the lame beggar at the shrine,
Only his eyes
Holding the shining lantern light.

You spend all your hours with Kami,
Now that we are forever apart
Chained for the raging crimes of the heart.
In No Kuni, we pass one another
In the present era, souls scattered like blossom.

Other people wrote of the history of Tango, the dance, an amusing short piece concerning a telephone conversation where it’s used to spell out a irritating sales company’s name and a stong piece of dialogue about two teenage girls, one wantintg to change her name to Tango because of fond childhood memories attached to it.