From a book review written by Ms. Machiko Kobayash:
In Financial News, January 2000, David Anthony said, gBefore I discovered Tanka poetry, I had a long-standing interest in reading and writing sonnets and was astonished to discover the many similarities between two poetic forms that had grown up in such widely separated and different cultures.h He also introduced his Tanka :
Glimpsed rose
redolent of dreams
Seller by
The road, I wonder
Did you sell your dreams?
English poem tells a story while Tanka gives you an image. David Anthony shows the good example. The above gives the image while the following gFlower Sellerh in his new collected poems tells a story.
Glimpsed roses at a roadside stall: so bright
a contrast to the cityfs traffic haze,
rich with the peace and warmth of summerfs days
and quiet reveries of dark and light,
seen only for a moment\there, then gone.
Such wistful beauty, such a brave display,
stands out against the drabness of the day,
confirming even here out dreams live on.
But wayside seller, looking at your face,
I see your flowers are only goods to sell
with no innate significance. Ah well,
therefs little value in the commonplace.
Still I wonder, trapped within lifefs schemes
and compromises, did you sell your dreams?
In his gTalking to Lord Newborough,h David Anthony tells plenty of stories. Some are sad, the others humorous, and all are warm. Some of them provide the unexpected ending which surprise you like O. Henryfs short stories. gCushioning the Blowh, gTo Die Forh end with black humor, gWater bearerh preaches and warms you, gFor My Daughterh is warm and full of love, gFlotsam on a Winter Tideh has something common with Japanese idea of nature for gNature speaks in the tidefs turn.h Tanka often allows too limited number of words to fully express what wells up in your mind but David Anthony successfully conveys his idea. Tanka form is adopted in gSummerfs Endh, gFive Views of Kyotoh which vividly describes his impression of Kyoto and gLate August at Hadrianfs Wallh which depicts the image with nicely selected words. His poems including Tanka come from his daily life and experience which many people share. For example, gWords to Sayh expresses his sorrow at the death of his relative. You must have the same feelings when you lose somebody close to you. Such universality as well as the comfortable rhythm of his poems encourages me to write Tanka.
Rhythm and rhyme
pleasing in his poem
infuse me
the aspirations
of playing with the words cc
'Talking to Lord Newborough' is available from Barnes & Noble and all Amazon sites internationally. Just search for 'Lord Newborough' and it comes up.
It's also available direct from the publisher, Alsop Review Press, along with his CD recording of it:
http://www.alsopreview.com/press.htm
