Everyday Mind XVIII

I am Tekkan. I have married the poetic forms of the sonnet and the tanka. A story is told in the sonnet - using three quatrains and a final couplet. The story reaches a conclusion in the couplet. The tanka offers a commentary or counterpoint to the sonnet - the combined poems have two endings. The meaning is direct - I want people to understand clearly. Metaphors are inspired by Shakespeare the (aimed-for) precision imitates the Japanese. Mixing the sonnet with the tanka combines the sensibility of the Occident and the Orient - as I have done by living in America England and Japan.Tekkan is the dharma name I was given. I use Zen mediation to make poetry of ordinary events. Tekkan means Iron Man a settled practitioner of great determination.