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Event Description
Tanka Workshop #2
The summer solstice was over and the trees were bright blue green like impressively verdant (Sosui ni shite shitatarugotoshi) , the "Tanka Workshop/Summer" was held at the Locust Grove Estate in Poughkeepsie on June 30th. It was an exhilarating workshop under the sunlight that filters through magnificent trees that passed through time to commemorate the 10th anniversary.
The title of the theme was "Tanka", "Uta", "Yomu", etc., and I had an opportunity to learn how the participants interact with Tanka. Currently five of the 12 participants have been coming from the very first workshop.
The fact that we were able to continue last ten years while working hard is nothing less than everyone’s passion for Tanka and I am truly grateful. I can see all participants take pleasure in Tanka very much from their verses, depicting enjoyment of life, awareness of fundamentals over and above nature, and their agony to articulate. This is exactly what I want most as an instructor.
At the end of the workshop with amusement, we had lunch on the main building’s porch and welcomed an unexpected natural mischief; the sky suddenly became over clouded (Itten niwakani kakikumori) followed by a severe thunderstorm. By the end of lunch, the storm was completely passed and we took pleasure in strolling through the sparkling garden.
The Locust Grove Estate was built in 1850 by Samuel F.B. Morse as an Italian-style villa. The 200 acres of land along the Hudson River is full of seasonal flowers and is now open to the public as Museum & Nature Preserve.
The participants certainly were inspired by a lot of Tanka quintessence while taking air around the garden and trails overlooking the Hudson River.
Chikako Mori
Instructor
Translation done by Yuriko Tanaka-Jones
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