七福神 / Shichifukujin: The Seven Lucky GodsI first wrote this tanka sequence in January of 2007. It was published
in Ribbons, the journal of the Tanka Society of America, in issue 9:1, Spring/Summer 2013. It also appears in my Solitary tanka trifold. Click to enlarge the picture at the end. Daikokuten: The God of Wealth the door to the 7-Eleven opens and closes several times while I ponder— will this dollar bill I’ve found buy me the winning lottery ticket? Ebisu: Fisherman fishing flies work best, he tells me, when tied in winter through its long nights, long and slow Benzaiten: Arts blossoms are starting— today, someone has tied a love poem to my favourite tree, that car-damaged plum Bishamonten: Warriors you raise your fist, the entrance to hell; lower it, the entrance to heaven— and pass me crushed sage Jurōjin: Long Life the rice balls this first morning assured me a long life —now, in the evening, we fret already over taxes Fukurokuju: Long Life Also hands tucked in his sleeves he asks for directions, then promises many birthdays— the sun setting Hotei: Happiness trading morning grins again me and the office guy in the corner cubicle— somehow he knows the same secrets  |