31 syllables and 5 lines that stop the world. Tanka, the oldest form of poetry in Japan, captures the moment in a lyrical snapshot of life. As the origin of haiku, tanka also combines spontaneity with profound universality, as this selection impressively demonstrates: it follows over 250 five-line poems by the Japanese tanka master Wakayama Bokusui, reflecting his intense encounters with nature, successful and fleeting love, and deep emotional crises. Radically subjective yet pleasantly unpretentious in tone, his 100-year-old poems allow a modern reader to recognize themselves. "Down the river to the sea: blue-eyed waves - the city colored by the budding blossoms of the mountain cherry trees.".