According to Wikipedia, Tanka (短歌, “short poem”?) is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Below you can read the 49th of my 2017 poems.
The aim is to write as many of these poems as possible to build a comprehensive picture of life with a disability in 21st century Britain. Sadly this means I will be producing work of depressing negativity most of the time in order to reflect brutal realities in a cathartic manner. I will never shy away from this…
Thankfully this poem marks the end of my attempts to look on the apparent bright side for a short period as since turning forty I have lost a friend to cancer, seen a member of staff quit, watched my football team lose at home after five successive victories, called two plumbers and a bed technician. There is plenty of moaning to be done.
I’m fading away
Dreams deteriorate
On the ropes, flailing
Punch after punch after punch
The fight carries on till the end
