Beetles & Stars

In 'Beetles & Stars, ' three widely published tanka poets collaborate to write 99 tanka triptychs. Tanka is a five-line poetic form ancestral to haiku, and there is a long tradition, both in Japan and in the English-speaking world, of writing tanka in response to another poet's poem. The three voices in this book call and respond to each other, resonating and harmonizing to create an interwoven 'braid' of tanka that demonstrates the power of this ancient form to express any emotion and explore any theme, from the bones of worry to the song of the wood thrush; from the humblest beetle to the distant stars.