Tanka, a 1300-year-old, five-line lyrical form of poetry from Japan, was originally called 'waka', which translates as 'short song'. The Forest I Know, Kala Ramesh's first book in this genre, consists mainly of tanka, tanka prose and tanka doha. With stunningly bold and beautiful poems encompassing every facet of our day-to-day living, this book is at once ancient and modern, enduring and unforgettable - and is sure to resonate with the reader.
'Kala Ramesh's writings have a poetic brevity and brilliance that compels one to read the lines again and again. She has mastered the Japanese form of tanka poetry and prose admirably. '
‰ÛÓ Pavan K. Varma
‰Û÷ Kala Ramesh puts before us a vision of human needs and aspirations that is rooted in empathy and that, through intuition, extends into the natural world. For over two decades, in magazines and journals that specialize in short-form poetry, her name has been well-known and broadly praised, her work regularly appearing in dozens of anthologies devoted to these genres. In India, of course, but also in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, her contributions have been critically important in fueling the resurgence and interest in short poetry, helping to shape its direction, scope and content throughout the English-speaking world.‰۪
‰ÛÓ Michael McClintock
'Steeped in the flavors and philosophies of India, the tanka and tanka prose of Kala Ramesh are at once as exotic as the rhythms of a tabla and as deeply familiar as the reader‰۪s own heartbeat. Filled with sparkling images and intuitive leaps, her poems offer glimpses of the universal that lies hidden, like a half-tucked moon, among the particularities of one woman‰۪s life. From the deep wells of childhood, through illusion to oneness, she invites the reader to step with her into the river of time and eternity. It is a journey not to be missed.
‰ÛÓ Jenny Ward Angyal
Author of
Moonlight on Water
