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A Triad of Tanka I

Sat on a park bench She exposes her heavy breasts; Offers him a teat. Lewd men inwardly applaud This conformability. -------------------------------------- Young shoji fixers In Edo are in demand; And well rewarded. Their longest ladders can reach A widows highest window. -------------------------------------- The stylish long sleeves Declare she is virtuous; A pure innocence! But impatient for the day When she picks up the Scissors. --------------------------------------

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Rowena Velasco

Date: 8/7/2025 6:51:00 PM

Intriguing and layered—each vignette feels like a snapshot with a sharp, unexpected edge. Your imagery invites the reader to pause, then lean in for the deeper story beneath.

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 8/7/2025 10:22:00 AM

I don't know who she offered her teat to. Hopefully to her baby? (yes, i see that you responded to that below). I too appreciated what you commented to Tommy to help me understand the last tanka. the japanese culture is so interesting.

Mystic Rose Rose

Date: 8/7/2025 8:38:00 AM

This was well researched and well written too John, so much has changed since then, :)

Sara Etgen-Baker

Date: 8/6/2025 4:48:00 PM

Liked the flow...your comments to Tom clarified your poem for me. Happy exploring...enjoy your evening, Sara

John Fleming
Date: 8/7/2025 5:56:00 AM

Cheers, Sara! :) john

Tom Woody

Date: 8/6/2025 1:18:00 PM

Ha! That last one. Read Memoirs of a Geisha? Put me in mind. I see you're exploring

John Fleming
Date: 8/6/2025 1:56:00 PM

I am very interested in Chinese and Japanese poetry...you can blame Ezra Pound for that. When digging around for some information regarding the Kimono, I discovered that, during the Imperial Japan Period, young unmarried woman wore Kimonos down to their wrists. When married, however, they could then take a pair of scissors and remove the long, flowing sleeves by cutting them off at the elbow. A sort of 'hands off this one...she is now unavailable'. As for your Geisha comment, Tom...I will now be taking a gander. Cheers! :) john

Sotto Poet

Date: 8/6/2025 9:49:00 AM

Themes of gender, social expectations, and the duality of virtue and sin are all explored in the great tanka series, John. It contrasts the conventional ideas of innocence and purity with the explicit abuse of women.

John Fleming
Date: 8/6/2025 2:11:00 PM

Indeed, a lot of what you remark on pertains indirectly or directly to the Tankas. The first poem refers to the ancient custom of allowing women with babies to breast feed in public. I suspect, that as men made all the rules in Imperial Japan...a lot of older men would have found this 'proper' and 'socially acceptable'. The last one implies that widows in Imperial Japan (who were expected to remain in their deceased husbands household and remain celibate) probably found a way to ease their 'lose'. Especially if they were rich! :) john