Over the past few months, a lot of my work has been published, but I’ve been negligent in getting them posted. Breaking from my usual tradition of a separate post for each journal, I’m going to post all of them here in a single posting. Separate poems and journals are both divided by ***.
Redlights, Volume 15, No. 2, June 2019
.
a day will come
when we are the faces
in old picture albums
and no one left
to give us names
***
babcia’s borscht recipe
in faded black ink—
can you smell the beets
bubble and hear her
hum along
Ribbons Spring/Summer 2019: Volume 15, No. 2
.
PET scan . . .
all the dogs & cats
I ever knew & loved
romp in the tunnel
where I lie in stillness
***
Ribbons Spring/Summer 2019: Volume 15, No. 2
Tanka Café: Theme: What Matters [to You]
they say time
moves faster as we age
yet here I am
stealing an hour
to listen to the birds
***
cattails: The Official Journal of the United Haiku and Tanka Society, April 2019 Issue
.
late winter
the garden’s breath
shifts once more
***
one crow
and a clutch of chickadees
at the birdfeeder —
that simple need
to fit in someplace
***
Frogpond 42.2 * 2019
.
graveside—
white blossoms
lighten the darkness
***
Blithe Spirit 29.2, 2019
.
evening meditation
fireflies flit here
& there
& there
***
.
sacred sites
finding myself praying
in another language
.
***
.
the soft rustle
of quivering aspen leaves
over and over
I replay the words
I might have said
.
***
.
a feeling of you
standing behind me …
when I turn around,
only shadow
only silence
.
***
.
Moonbathing 20 Spring/Summer 2019
.
sea glass
a distant story
told in waves
I long
to read
.
***
.
The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXI, Number 2: June 2019
.
a single brass button—
I try to remember
his voice
***
.
Eucalypt Issue 26, 2019
.
without warning
a leaf rises in the wind
then tumbles—
our need for forgiveness
so unexpected, too
.
(Eucalypt, The Distinctive Scribblings Awards)
***
.
Gusts, Contemporary Tanka No. 29, Spring/Summer 2019
.
faint notes
of a harpsichord
playing Bach –
why is it you always wait
for one wrong note
***
you pour a second cup
of pale moon tea
in a teashop in Prague
. . . I wonder what story
the leaves might tell
***
walking alone
past the tide’s own
push and pull –
I turn to see my footprints
wash away
***
Kokako 30, 2019
.
abbey ruins
voices of evensong
nowhere everywhere
***
old burying ground
so many grave markers
buried too
***
in the coffee shop
a glimpse of someone
who looks just like you—
I quickly check my face
in a mirror
***
dark storm clouds
dissolve in sunlight
and shift again—
your changing moods
just as quick
***
