Tanka of the Day ~

    
Heat radiating 
    off the faded black highway,
        petal to the floor,
    flying across the desert
        on the Fourth of July . . . 
    

Tanka of the Day ~ Dozing in my chair

    
Dozing in my chair
        sunlight peeking through the leaves
    dreaming of summer.
        A squirrel jumps down from the tree;
            the dog barks at its antics. 
    

Tanka of the Day ~ This old coat of mine

    
This old coat of mine
    smelling of stale cigarettes
        with its torn pocket
    a reminder of my youth
        and many forgotten sins. 
   

   
(July, 2015)

(Incomplete) Tank of the Day ~ Unable to sleep

    
Unable to sleep
    I listen throughout the night
        to the silent song
            of falling snow in my yard.
     
    With the soft dawn ... 

                             

(Sometime before 2010)

Tanka of the Day ~ Dark gray clouds greet me

   
Dark gray clouds greet me 
    when I wake from my slumber, 
    a bird starts to sing;
        the valley is deep in shadows,
        sunlight on a distant peak. 
   
   

Tanka of the Day ~ "Hoo, hoo" chants the owl,

    
"Hoo, hoo" chants the owl,
    among the moon lit shadows
    a field mouse dances.
    
On silent wings death swoops down;
    Lux aeterna luceat eis. 
    

Tanka of the Day ~ Sipping rye whiskey

    
Sipping rye whiskey
    at the end of day.
    I hear an angel;
        her voice floats over the din
        of random conversations. 
   

Tanka of the Day ~ At the coming night

         
At the coming night, 
    with the closing of the day,
        I lay down my head.
    (A billion stars in the sky
        lights a path to my repose.)
      
   

Tanka of the Day ~ As the sun raises

   
As the sun raises 
        we descend from the mountain
    (passing  a Semi).
            At the junction we veer left, 
                north across the Mojave. 
   
  

Haiku of the Day ~ With both windows down.

 
With both windows down.
      Hot desert wind in my face.
(two forty air con.)
 
  

Haiku of the Day ~ Summer comes early

 
Summer comes early
        (lonely, arid, wild, and bare)
    to the high desert.
 
     

Haiku of the Day ~ In my face, cool air.

     
In my face, cool air.
        We turn left out of Bishop.
    (the highway ascends)
   
        

Score of the Week:

String Quartet #1 (Yuki)

Score and MP3

This is a short five movement piece for string quartet. Each movement is only about one minute each. And each movement is one line of a Tanka that I wrote about Snow (Yuki). I wrote the second movement first and all of the material in the other four movements appears in or is derived from the second movement. Given this, one can think of the first movement as a prelude with the second movement being the main movement. The fifth movement re-states the main motifs of the first four movements, combining them into one large polyphonic mass.

Unable to sleep I listen throughout the night to the silent song of falling snow in my yard. With the soft dawn, satori.

The first movement is built around the pentatonic scale F# G B C# D. (The Japanese Hirajoshi Scale; 平調)

The second movement is built around the pentatonic scale C# D F# G# A.

The third movement is built around the pentatonic scale D Eb G A Bb.

The fourth movement is built around the pentatonic scale C Dd F G Ab, but does not strictly adhere to the scale in places.

The fifth movement is built around the pentatonic scale C# D F# G# A, but does not strictly adhere to the scale in places

Tanka of the day: This old coat

   
This old coat of mine
smelling of stale cigarettes
with its torn pocket
a reminder of my youth
and many forgotten sins

Yuki

雪

Unable to sleep

I listen throughout the night

to the silent song

of falling snow in my yard.

With the soft dawn …
         
         

Haiku of the day

         

The squirrels in my head

running and jumping around

what was I doing?

The silent voices

    

The silent voices

and echoing memories

of those who have gone

    

 

String Quartet #1

String Quartet #1

雪

This is a short five movement piece for string quartet. Each movement is only about one minute each. And each movement is one line of a tanka that I wrote about Snow (Yuki). I wrote the second movement first and all of the material in the other four movements appears in or is derived from the second movement. Given this, one can think of the first movement as a prelude with the second movement being the main movement. The fifth movement re-states the main motifs of the first four movements, combining them into one large polyphonic mass.

Unable to sleep

I listen throughout the night

to the silent song

of falling snow in my yard.

With the soft dawn, satori.

• The first movement is built around the pentatonic scale F# G B C# D. (The Japanese Hirajoshi Scale )
• The second movement is built around the pentatonic scale C# D F# G# A.
• The third movement is built around the pentatonic scale D Eb G A Bb.
• The fourth movement is built around the pentatonic scale C Dd F G Ab
• The fifth movement is built around the pentatonic scale C# D F# G# A

MP3 at: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/22295.html

Haiku of the week

   
Like the morning dew
Under the harsh light of day
Your lies fade away.
   

Tanka of the day

  

Crisp spring rain

snow on the mountains

bright sunlight

bills I have to pay

to work I must go