Death Tanka Poems | Examples
These Death Tanka poems are examples of Tanka poems about Death. These are the best examples of Tanka Death poems written by international poets.
The dog each morning
lies across the fresh-dug grave
be it snow or sun;
For the dog does not know death;
his master still lives within.
baby is crying
the three year old is “why-ing”
daddy fell off his pulpit
one eye spied red-blooded male
thought it okay to take life
Starlight is defamed
comets swallow their own tails
time folds entropy
shadows not now reflected
all applause rendered to void
In the vanishing
I stand stripped of flesh and bone
naked to atone
as a soul in reckoning
for what I've become, not done
When I someday die,
I'll no longer wonder why
Life flashes in eyes.
I'll then truly realize
Why it was all meant for me.
busy folk walking
its in hospital I lie
I hear staff talking
softly accommodating
spend my last moments waiting
give a man my heart
when his own stops and wont start
better way to live
this is what I want to give
take cells blood every last part
truth everyone dies
she cant see- give her my eyes
donation is wise
take vocal chords to help chat
brain just for a democrat
though Mom's memory
is slow she smiles at photo
taken many years
ago when life was simple
with no confusion chaos
Mom's hospice nurses
are thorough even small things
are giant matters
as life's boundaries implode:
sleep, dress, eat, nap, sleep, repeat
long term memories~
through it all she still recalls
her little girl (that's me)
(her jewel) I'm by her side
as she finds eternity
OF FOOD AND WARRING
(A TANKA QUIENTET)
Juxtaposed bombs fall…
Food’s down, starvation rising…
Death…collateral…
Thus, war’s new reaping of death:
Food uprooted and destroyed:-
Food’s an enemy,
Seeking to eat, deadly:
Starvation killing:-
Thus, be war’s new strategy:
Piled skin covered skeletons:-
Ironically,
All this is merely Breaking News!
War’s politicking:
Pontificating power;
Not nourishing peace and love:-
May these fruitful thoughts
Excite your hunger for peace
And its divine love:-
Not living in peace is bad.
Not seeking to is much worse:-
Let’s not be sorry,
Rather, in our awareness,
Let’s get rid of war:-
Where there’s no peace, wherever,
There can’t be peace anywhere:-
The dead that now know
God's move in ~predestined~ wind
Sift through the free grass.
You must be longer
in there than I am this staid.
Above you, to leave
Where distant dogs bark, since then
My fallen soul buries rest.
He, so fond of dress--
What not and what must he wear,
Alas failed to stress
Till last but one breath of air
That his shroud was far from fair.
____________________
Tanka |22.07.2025| irony, death
Of A Confused Nightmare Dream
(A Thought Provoking Tanka Trio)
Is sleeping dreamless,
Short-lived life’s resurrection,
Or death’s fantasy?
Can living fake its own death
In confusing nightmare dreams?
I thought I was dead.
Do the dead have dreams of life
Or just it’s nightmares?
Irrespective of it all,
It all seems so confusing:-
In life’s awareness,
Sleep can be as confusing,
As “the living dead”:
Is it possible for a dead mind
To have living thoughts like these?
Evilly absurd,
Bombing lives doesn’t win peace;
Just wishful power:-
War and peace are antonyms.
You can’t make them synonyms:-
War can not bring peace,
Just collateral damage,
And high death rates:-
Peace comes with labors of love,
Nourished by God’s healing grace:-
War only knows hate,
Bombing homes, schools, and churches,
Filled with peaceful lives:-
When will this world ever be
A world rooted in love’s peace?!
Never invited
Lost in the bottle from you
I didn't cause this
You told lies to my landlord
The neighbors warned me of you
Her voice resonates
Strongly in my delighted ear;
My soul smiles -
As if she'd not died years ago
And been shut away in a wall ...
Geologist George
chose inscription to be etched
on stone of his tomb
'Here lies Earth scientist on
quest of under ground.'
Sincere researcher
wished to continue his work
even after death,
opting opportunity
to complete research undone.
His earnest desire
was to pursue his quest
in after life phase
on care free excavation
peacefully under soil.
making marriage vows
forever they declared
their love would last
until they scratched to death
their seven-year itch