Gratitude and poetic riffs: 5 tanka poems from Joël Tan

Each day during the month of April, KUOW is highlighting the work of Seattle-based poets for National Poetry Month. In this series curated by Seattle Civic Poet and Ten Thousand Things host Shin Yu Pai, you'll find a selection of poems for the mind, heart, senses, and soul.

E

very day, Joël Barraquiel Tan posts a 5-line tanka poem to his Instagram. Approaching poetry as a daily practice that intermingles with mindfulness, gratitude, and joy, Tan's short poetic riffs give insight into the poet's perspective and his care for the world.

Joël Barraquiel Tan (siya/he/him) is the Executive Director at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. He is the author of "Type O Negative" (Red Hen), and various works on identity, AIDS, and queer politics appear in academic and commercial venues. Joël co-founded L.A.'s Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team Health Center and was the Director of Community Engagement at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from 2004 to 2015. Before coming to the Wing Luke Museum, he lived in Hawai'i Island and served as Touching the Earth's Director of Social Impact.