Floating on Air~~a tanka response with Genie Nakano and Dean Okamura

for valentines

genienakano's avatarGenie Nakano

this tanka response will be published in November, 2022 in Better than Starbucks on line…check it out. A wonderful on line journal with an array of different styles of poetry and stories. We are proud to be there!

Floating on Air

Kampai
the only Nihongo I know
brings the clang
of glasses filling the space
while I am spinning on air  Genie

she waits in the dark
while he rushes through
crowded alleys
patrons praise the chef
they consume a fiery feast        Dean

was it him 
or the splendor of the night
that lured me
into his warm embrace
a night of pas de deux            Genie

adrift in the blues
a roller coaster of smooth dips
syncopated hips
shaking until we come loose
floating thought the moonlight   Dean

music fills the air
wild moths drawn to the flame
out of darkness
into the burning light
we dance into timelessness         Genie

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Thich Nhat Hanh~~teachings on love

I will be teaching Metta Meditation at JCI–Gardena Valley Japanese cultlural Institute this Friday , Feb. 10, 2023 12:15 – 1:00, Call: 310 869-0233 for further information.

genienakano's avatarGenie Nakano

Photo by Genie Nakano.

….if a monk practices love meditation even if only for the length of time it takes to snap one’s fingers, he will not fail in meditative concentration. There is no greater virtue than practicing love meditation everyday. From the book, ‘Teachings on Love’ Thich Nhat Hanh

So, I’ve been snapping my fingers all day today and whispering the love and kindness mantra.
from, Genie Nakano

View original post

i am…

“please call me by my true name so i can wake up,”*

i’m a whore i’m a bitch
there’s a whole lot more words
i’m a goddess i’m a Saint
that will break your back

the monks named me Daya
the compassionate one
this compassion breaks my heart daily
a homeless cat
a homeless dog
the homeless
the homelessness

it’s raining today
tears from the sky
bring the maudlin out of me

bring on the sun
sun rays to pierce the heart
this cycle, of recycling
again and again

rain falling
on pink petals
into the ground
a final burial
for my unborn child

genie nakano, 1 .14 .23

*Thich Nhat Hanh

spilling hope . . .

my mind all aglow
i woke up last night
a white page
and pencil in hand
spilling hope, fear and love
          
     
              genie nakano,
                     January 2023

Starlight

my husband had two strokes
sometimes he doesn’t understand
my words
chatter chatter chatter
metaphors are a challenge

it’s hard on me
you have changed, I say
my patience
balancing on a thin wire
I practice walking on clouds

only in darkness
can we see stars shine
welcome the night…
words my husband spoke to me
when we were young

genie nakano








Starlight will be published in Ribbons a tanka Journal in the Spring of 2023, selected by Susan Weaver, editor of Ribbons.























































	


	







	

		
poetry fest~~new book~~Wings on a Silk Veil
	


	
	

		

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. I’M COMING OUT WITH A NEW BOOK ….
Book opening…. April 29, 20023, Sat. 2 – 4   More Later…








	


	





	

		
Nothings Solid ~~free verse/tanka
	


	
	

		

Molecules spacing out
Wider, longer, deeper --
into air
light and sound go through me
I am invisible
yet I am here
can you hear me
like the wind
that can't be seen
only it's effects
the rustle of grass
leaves dancing in trees

inside me
a tsunami crashing
white rabbits
frolicking on the foam
nothing is solid

space wider, longer, deeper
I, no longer
a woman, a human
just space  spacious  space
beyond sky
spacing out...

Genie Nakano
October, 20017









Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com





	


	





	

		
His story…
	


	
			

				
			


		
	

		






A long time ago...perhaps 20 years ago
this little hummingbird sat in my dance studio
here is his portrait and story.

I had just finished rehearsing my solo dance when
I heard a little peep, peep.
I thought it was a sound coming from my speakers--
 so I searched and searched --
looked up and there he was sound a sleep.
I climbed on a ladder to get a better look.
I stroked his soft breast -- he wouldn't wake up.
So I offered him water and blueberries and left him alone. 
The next day when I returned -- he was gone.