Cat’s tongue . . .

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Mary Kendall

One haiku and one tanka were published in Presence, Issue #65, 2019

cat’s tongue
the shallow rasp
of a scar

* * *

tree bark
kissed by wind—
out of the blue
a memory of you
appears

Three Tanka in Gusts

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Mary Kendall

Three tanka were published in the last issue of
Gusts, Contemporary Tanka No. 30, Fall/Winter 2019

as Geminids flit by
in the inky darkness
I pull your jacket tight
around myself
. . . all I have left

∼ ∼ ∼

ripeness
bears its own burden . . .
fragrant peaches
dangle low
bruises a breath away

∼ ∼ ∼

in old growth grass
a newborn fawn
wobbles on spindly legs –
a sure reminder
how brief a season is

unearthing beauty (rengay)

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Mary Kendall

My deepest thanks to Kate MacQueen for writing this rengay with me. It was a wonderful and illuminating experience to write with Kate. Kate’s verses are #2, 4, 6 (italicized) and mine are #1, 3, 5.

This rengay was published in Vines #3, part of the publication hedgerow edited by Caroline Skanne.

Note: for readers not acquainted with rengay, here is a definition from “Graceguts” by Michael Dylan Welch:

“Garry Gay invented a renga alternative in the summer of 1992: the “rengay.”

“The rengay is a collaborative six-verse linked thematic poem written by two or three poets using alternating three-line and two-line haiku or haiku-like stanzas in a regular pattern. The pattern for two people is A-3, B-2, A-3, B-3, A-2, B-3, with the letters representing the poets, and the numbers indicating the number of lines in each given verse.”