Tanka after Sappho and Izumi Shikibu

Matthew Guertin writes primarily in the choka and tanka traditions of Yamato, Nara, and Heian Japan, as well as, obliquely, the Ottoman tradition of love poetry and the Wisdom tradition of ancient Hebrew poetry. His work tends to focus on love, longing, suffering, and the limits of human existence. He has been previously published in Macrina Magazine.