[Polar Bear Tanka] Judge rira Award
This time, I was in charge of the tanka section, and
I have been asked to select a few as a judge.
Every tanka is a precious work filled with the author's feelings, and it is impossible to determine which is better or worse. Each has its own wonderful character, and it is impossible to compare the thoughts contained within them.
However, I can say, "I just really like this tanka!" The type I like is one where the landing point shifts as you go from top to bottom, or one where the metaphors are unique and hit the mark. Aside from that, there is, of course, the feeling.
This time, the tanka, like the haiku,
will be ranked.
Although this selection is entirely based on my personal taste,
I will present them.
1. Things that cannot be helped and things that become
I am snow and you are a star (Hakuka Hayashi)
We know that there are things in this world that cannot be helped. But this poem does not lament that, nor does it grieve.
It compares it to nature, which is beyond our control, and accepts it as it is with a sense of purity. If I am snow and you are a star, then it simply cannot be helped. And there is a sadness, as if we are looking at each other while knowing we can never reach one another. That is for the other person, and also for oneself.
Within the simple expression, the perspective of looking straight ahead quietly is pure and beautiful, making the depiction of the unadulterated snow and stars stand out even more. When you fall in love, you want the other person, you get jealous, and when you part, the feelings linger. But I felt that falling in love is perhaps this kind of pure feeling in the first place, and it slipped right into my heart, as if smoothing out my turbulent emotions.
2. Perhaps we are being tested by this distance
Two people looking up at Orion at the same time (suzuco)
Winter is the season when the stars shine brightest. Two people far apart are looking at the same sky, the same Orion, from different places. To be tested surely means that they both harbor some anxieties about each other's feelings. I wonder if that person is thinking of me even though we are apart. I feel as if my heart is drifting away the further we are separated.
However, the dignified stars twinkle as if to dispel that. Because Orion, which never changes its form in the sky, is connecting the two people looking up at it right now, it will surely be alright. It takes courage to believe, but if you can believe, you should be able to become strong. The way those two feel about each other seemed to shine like the stars.
3. A night thinking of someone without a subject
A single scratch like a diagonal line on the first frost (Zero no Kami)
The high level of sophisticated expressive power, which allows no followers, is outstanding. Words and music can even change our hearts. We feel like we are in love even when we are not, or we feel sad when we listen to a breakup song. Is the impulse that drives us really my own feeling?
The first frost, which has drawn many straight lines, is a pure heart. But the heart cannot always remain straight. Getting a scratch like a diagonal line is also proof of being alive. It was a work that made me think that perhaps we live our lives while unintentionally leaving many scratches on our hearts, without the pleasure of crunching through that delicate first frost that feels like it would break if touched.
4. Wind. A crowd of humans who can only pray, waiting patiently, patiently for the sunrise. (Neko at the after-school beach)
A poem that shines with a youthful sensibility. By pausing after 'wind' and describing humans as a 'crowd,' I interpreted the perspective as being the wind itself. Humans are powerless against nature. We cannot make it rain or stir up the wind, nor can we avoid natural disasters. We are helpless creatures who can only pray.
When I went to see the first sunrise at the beach in Kasai, there was a black crowd of people waiting for the sun. A miscellaneous group all walking in the same direction, a writhing crowd waiting intently for the sun to show its face. It felt sacred, like some kind of ritual.
The moment the light shone through, we must have surely been praying. And the wind is always there by our side. It felt very similar to the times in life when we long for light to shine into the darkness.
5. Snowflakes dance in the glittering, bell-ringing town.
Walking alone, I have already decided. (Ricotto)
The perspective of looking straight ahead is cool. A town dyed in Christmas mood is lively and fun, but it's easy to feel a bit lonely walking through it alone. If things were different, I would want someone by my side to share this joy. Especially in the cold where snow is dancing, I crave warmth even more.
However, this poem shows the strength to say that being alone is fine, or rather, if I am alone, I will walk forward with dignity. Perhaps there is loneliness somewhere in the heart, but there is a decisiveness that blows such feelings away. The only thing I need to keep me company is the snowflakes that would vanish if touched. Holding both strength and fragility at the same time, I fully accept myself as I am. I was drawn to this tanka, which evokes the image of a cool, mature woman walking briskly through the city with the sound of her heels.
6. The sound of a sluggish sewing machine stitches the years together.
It is New Year's Eve, and I want brand-new fabric. (Numata Yaginu)
A sewing machine and New Year's Eve. A poem that connects words that seem to have no connection at first glance through a skillful metaphor.
I am surprised by the flexibility of the idea that brand-new fabric is the New Year, and that we stitch this year's fabric onto last year's fabric with a sewing machine to connect the years. Last year's fabric must surely be covered in stains or frayed in places. The feeling of welcoming the New Year as if sewing brand-new fabric onto that. We want to welcome the New Year with a fresh, pleasant feeling, don't we?
However, 'sluggish'—there is also a sense of secrecy, as if the work of sewing fabric must be done carefully and cautiously. Stitch by stitch, carefully. It is just like the bells of New Year's Eve. In other words, one can imagine that the ringing of the New Year's Eve bells is the sewing machine that stitches this year and next year together. It was a tanka with a profound sense of wonder, using a metaphor that combined unexpected things.
🌟 🐻❄️ 🌟 🐻❄️ 🌟 🐻❄️ 🌟
Although the following are not Judge's Award winners, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the six poems I had selected as candidates.
🌟 Laughing together, the two of us with hot sake, at the bottom of a silent, cold moonlit night (by Amane-san)
The first half is warm with 'laughing together' and 'hot sake,' while the second half has a chilly image with 'cold' and 'bottom of a moonlit night.' I was drawn to the beautiful, smooth, and flowing depiction that continues until the very end.
A winter moonlit night has a taut coldness and transparency, and if it is at the bottom of that, it must be terribly cold and dark. But if the two of you are together, a world of your own expands, a place you would want to stay in forever. With hot sake in hand, the steam rises, and it feels as if the two of you's feelings might reach the moon at any moment.
It was a wonderful tanka that makes you want to experience such a love, a moonlit night where even a place like the edge of the world feels romantic if you are together, and where your heart and body must surely be warm if you laugh together.
🌟 Two numbed tear ducts, hugging my knees in an empty bathtub (by Soup-san)
It is cold there, and you are all alone in the world, overflowing with a sadness that is about to make you cry at any moment. Soup-san, like a tiny, tiny child, is hugging their knees, but no one comes to help. Yet, that scream does not even become a voice. The voice finally squeezed out just echoes in the bathroom and reaches no one. That scream felt as if it were about to drown and fall out from between the words.
My child is currently refusing to go to school. There was a time when I couldn't accept the truancy itself and was desperately trying to fix it. I feel it is similar to the sensation that no one understands, and while the world is spinning along just fine, only you are being left behind.
I wanted to hug Soup-san during that painful time when you were holding back tears and were at your limit, and tell you, 'It's okay, your voice will surely reach someone.'
🌟 Staring at the shadow of the pot bottom in the spring sun, wondering if the medaka's lifespan has come to an end (by Kirinami-san)
Spring is the season when buds sprout, flowers begin to bloom, and living things start to become active. In a corner where many things wake up bathed in such soft spring sunlight, there are also those whose lifespans are coming to an end. Life and death are always side by side.
When winter ends and I feel the warm weather bathed in the spring sun, I feel excited and suddenly want to go outside. In a corner of spring where such life begins to flourish, a medaka quietly loses its life. It seems that medaka, which are resistant to cold, also hibernate. I felt the presence of death in the medaka that gradually stopped moving and stopped eating. Death is always right there. While gently watching over the sight of it dying in the spring sunlight, I felt the persona lost in thought about death.
🌟 The warmth I taste in a frothed latte is the first reward to get through today (by Daina-san)
A cup of coffee, a cigarette. Before starting work or chores, everyone must have that little item that acts as a motivation switch to give them a nudge. For me, it's brewing a café au lait before I start the laundry in the morning. Even in summer, I have it hot. When I'm working, I buy a drink at a set convenience store, and when I want to get fired up, I go to the Doutor across the street.
It can be something very small, but it's a very important ritual before starting something. The sense of happiness when taking a sip of a latte with fluffy foam—when people are eating or drinking something delicious, their thoughts stop. Thanks to this brief transition switch, I find I'm able to smoothly plan out my upcoming schedule in my head.
I think that momentary transition is all the more important when you're in a hurry. By capturing that without missing it and turning it into a tanka, you reminded me of such an important thing.
🌟 Beyond the silence of the night falling like a snow globe, I hear breathing (Aoi Hana-san)
A bright night where snow dances without a sound feels like a special space where a somewhat sacred atmosphere drifts. It's just like a snow globe. When I'm captivated by the snow that seems to fall forever, I feel like I might even forget the time, as if I've wandered into another world.
The sounds of cars and footsteps that I would normally hear are swallowed by the snow and become quiet. In the silence that makes me want to hold my breath, the only thing I can hear is breathing. The breathing comes from the other side of the snow globe—that is, from the real world outside the tranquil space I am feeling now. I was drawn to the sensation that these beautiful words are coming and going between the world of fantasy and reality, connecting them.
🌟 I will never believe sweet words again, a story about the time spent simmering daikon radish (Haneno Aki-san)
The sweetness is, of course, not just about the daikon. That's why the brilliance of the structure shines through, with "I will never believe sweet words again" coming first, and the daikon arriving as if it were an afterthought.
No matter how much you stay on guard, the more honest a person is, the more they end up believing sweet words. Repeating the cycle of falling for sweet words and being let down over and over, muttering "I've had enough! I'll never believe sweet words again!" while standing in the kitchen simmering daikon. It's a time when you might find your own heart while staring at the daikon as it bubbles away. I find myself grinning, imagining such a cute woman.
Did the daikon simmer to a sweet and savory flavor while she was grumbling? If she swallows her tears along with the sweetness of the daikon, perhaps she'll be able to handle sweet words better next time. It was a work so profound that I couldn't help but imagine such a story.
🔻 Upcoming Schedule
19:30~ Tanka Three Awards
20:00~ Haiku Judge Award
20:30~ Haiku Three Awards
21:00~ Finale & Ending Video
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