Category Archives: nature poetry

The simplest thing

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The simplest thing

 

Three poems (two haiku and one tanka) were published in the winter issue of Kokako, 2021. I have a real fondness for this journal because I love all things Kiwi. New Zealand is a beautiful country with such great people. They have a very active poetry community, and Kokako is a beautiful journal to be part of.

 

1.

snow drifts ~
the wild wind’s
last brief fling

2.

woodland colours
now grow pale
winter light

3.

arranging zinnias
in an old milk jug,
this pandemic silence
urges me to notice
the simplest things

Note: Photo of Zinnias (c) 2021 by Park Seeds

Whirlwinds (tanka)

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Redlights, Volume 17, No. 1, January 2021

 

 

Photography by Autumn Mott Rodeheaver

 

whirlwinds of scarlet
and ochre leaves
flit across the square –
days of self-isolation spent
learning to slow down

 

 

 

Tanka No. 3: The sudden silence

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Here is the third of my three tanka published in the latest issue of Gusts no. 32, Fall/Winter 2020:

 

 

even the crows
are quiet now . . .
the sudden silence
that morning snow
brings

 

 

 

 

Tanka No. 2: pale pink petals

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Here’s the second tanka published in
Gusts no. 32, Fall/Winter 2020

 

 

pale pink petals
scattered on the desk
one by one the days
of isolation pass,
each fading to nothing

 

 

 

 

Tanka No. 1: Lapis lazuli . . .

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Three tanka published in the winter edition of Gusts, Contemporary Tanka, the journal of Tanka Canada. It’s always a huge thrill to be included in this special journal of tanka. I’ll offer them one at a time.

Gusts no. 32, Fall/Winter 2020

lapis lazuli, delft blue
and French ultramarine . . .
the blueness of blue
in these tired veins
just won’t let go