Christina Nguyen is the fourth in my series of guest poets during National Poetry Month. You can find more of Christina’s wonderful voice and work on Twitter @TinaNguyen and on her blog, A wish for the sky. . ., where she also is sharing the work of guest poets during April. I’m happy to include her words and a small sampling of her tanka here:
“I began seriously writing haiku and tanka because of Twitter. In 2008, I made an account and started to use it, but I wasn’t sure what the point was. In 2009, I started to really enjoy playing around with poets there. I saw that Twitter was all about poetry–reading, writing, connecting with other poets. With support and encouragement from a few of those poets and writers, I started to submit haiku and then tanka to different journals. I was hooked!
“It seems weird to say, but Twitter woke me up and made me realize how much I love poetry. I used to think having one great passion was some sort of myth or lie we tell ourselves. But it’s not. Twitter reminded me that poetry is one of my true loves. Poetry keeps me up at night, wakes me up first thing in the morning, and keeps me going through the day.”
–Christina Nguyen
after work
the social media manager
walks home
to read a book
alone
—Prune Juice, Issue 5, January 2011
lady’s slipper
one rare pink blossom
in June
my pregnant belly
finally shows
—Atlas Poetica, “From Lime Trees To Eucalypts”
Special Feature 2011
walking across
the Washington Avenue bridge
after the last class
we throw our old shoes
into the wish tree
[Sponsored by Couplets–the brainchild of Joanne Merriam of Upper Rubber Boot Books. I’ll be hosting haiku/tanka poets here throughout the month of April.]
Haiku-doodle 
“Poetry keeps me up at night, wakes me up first thing in the morning, and keeps me going through the day.” – I really enjoyed reading this. Poetry has been my lifeline over the past couple of years, and the people I’ve met through it, too. Great to learn more about you, Christina, and to read some more of your fine work! 🙂
And thanks to Margaret for hosting!
I’m thrilled to see your work here, Christina. I’ve long been a fan. This post is wonderful….
Thanks for stopping by, Mark and Kirsten.
Nice to see you here, Christina. Poetry is also an essential part of my life, and you stated it so well! I enjoyed all your tanka, particularly “lady’s slipper”.
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