Tarumi Takagi
Inouye
Tarumi Takagi Inouye is a third-generation multi-hyphenate - poet, dancer, choreographer, actor, and yogi. She was born and raised in Southern California to dancer/choreographer Valentina Oumansky and music editor/poet r.y. takagi.
The name “Tarumi” written using specific Japanese Kanji is a poem in itself. Her grandfather, a Zen Buddhist and poet, created it as a gift for her birth. When she was 12 years old, Tarumi wrote her first haiku as a “thank-you” to him upon his death. She has co-hosted Alex M. Frankel’s “Second Sunday Poetry” open mic at her Historic Cultural Monument, “Studio Theatre at St Denis Building” in Los Angeles, since 2013. This is her first published book of poetry and photography.
Tarumi Takagi Inouye is a third-generation multi-hyphenate - poet, dancer, choreographer, actor, and yogi. She was born and raised in Southern California to dancer/choreographer Valentina Oumansky and music editor/poet r.y. takagi.
The name “Tarumi” written using specific Japanese Kanji is a poem in itself. Her grandfather, a Zen Buddhist and poet, created it as a gift for her birth. When she was 12 years old, Tarumi wrote her first haiku as a “thank-you” to him upon his death. She has co-hosted Alex M. Frankel’s “Second Sunday Poetry” open mic at her Historic Cultural Monument, “Studio Theatre at St Denis Building” in Los Angeles, since 2013. This is her first published book of poetry and photography.
My First Aubade
anticipation
as blue gives way to yellow
morning sun ombré
birds' light music in the air
quiet sky
punctuated
anticipation
as blue gives way to yellow
morning sun ombré
birds' light music in the air
quiet sky
punctuated
© 2026 Tarumi Takagi Inouye
Tarumi Takagi Inouye was a Featured Poet at the March 2026 Second Sunday Poetry Series
Tarumi Takagi Inouye was a Featured Poet at the March 2026 Second Sunday Poetry Series