Wind Tosses Waves

by Michael Blaine

wind tosses waves

on one side

of the floating bridge—

is it, too, the side

that faces you?

—Michael Dylan Welch

Michael Dylan Welch is the winner of the third “Member’s Choice Tanka” award. Out of the many strong tanka submitted, Michael’s simple image and wording create a complex plenitude of meaning to explore. One strength of this tanka is the terminating question that turns the tanka inward to the reader. The difficulty in presenting a question and maintaining depth of content is equivalent to writing a good love poem. The multitude of shallow verses overwhelms the rare gems we so often encounter. Ultimately, good writers become afraid to write them for fear of presenting weak verse. Michael has the courage to ask a question and make it compelling.

Michael’s use of indirect action additionally strengthens this tanka. Interestingly, the waves receive action from the wind, causing them to act against the bridge. So often are we affected by indirect actions, and react by blaming the wrong person. This image mirrors the role of a family or business leader. The harsh environment pummels the bridge “on one side,” suggesting that the other side is left calm. Nice. How often do we take the brunt of something to help others around us?

The dualist nature of the bridge is another great element. The bridge is a material thing that assists passage over difficult terrain. In this case, the bridge withstands the violence of the water in which the person is viewing. Michael reverses the image with the question to a more introspective nature. We are ourselves structures to assist safe passage of our spirit over dangerous territory, that of life. The image of a “floating” bridge is even stronger, in that we often must rise to the occasion, or risk being overwhelmed by the environment. We are all floating bridges in a continually fluctuating world. Wonderful.

Michael’s tanka is rich with meaning while keeping the image and wording simple. To me, that is the genius of this tanka.