the statue of David
stands so tall in the gallery,
I am speechless
in the Italian
I never learned
Published in Ekphrasis: The British Haiku Society Member’s Anthology, 2017
The statue of David by Michelangelo is in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy. It was sculpted between 1501 and 1504.
Two tanka of mine appeared in the last issue of Ribbons, the journal of the Tanka Society of America.
Ribbons, Fall 2017: Volume 13, Number 3
still collecting dolls
into her old age
a special name for each –
and one story
she refused to tell
Tanka Café, Fall 2017: theme was “paper”
a book propped
by the pillow on my knees,
page after page
I ease into someone
else’s life
Also appearing in Skylark, a Tanka Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2, Winter 2017 is this piece of Tanka Art. The photograph was taken by me in the cemetery of Holy Trinity Church (where William Shakespeare is buried) in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK in 2015.
This tanka was published in Skylark, a Tanka Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2, Winter 2017:
The following tanka is dedicated to the courageous people who participated in the “Moral Mondays” in my home state of North Carolina. They risked arrest for gathering at the State Legislature to protest unfair and discriminatory legislation being passed. These protests were non-violent and led by the Reverend William J. Barber.
Moral Monday –
arm and arm linked
you choose to step
into the darkness
to find the light
This rengay was published in Skylark, a Journal of Tanka,
Volume 5, Issue 2, Winter 2017
DAY’S END
Mary Kendall & Bill Waters
stillness – MK
violet fades
to black
the scratch of a match BW
as I strike it
a flicker MK
of memory starts
then stops
turn of the tide . . . BW
how hard it is
to let go
a limb of driftwood MK
pulled back to sea
fair nights or foul BW
the lighthouse beam
shining
It is always a real honor to be invited to write responsively with a poet I admire. In this case, poet Bill Waters asked if I’d like to write a rengay with him. I love Bill’s poetry and his originality. I had read many rengay, but I’d never written one. Of course trying out a new form is always both fun and a challenge, so without hesitation I agreed. Bill had written rengay with other poets, so I depended upon him to keep me on track, and he did. The process of linking and shifting in responsive writing is the best part of the process. Having this rengay accepted for publication in Skylark, a Journal of Tanka edited by Claire Everett was another honor for both of us. Thanks, Bill, for this invitation.
Note: For more poetry by Bill Waters, please visit his websites:
Bill Waters~~Haiku/
Haiku + Tanka, Haibun, Rengay, & More:
https://billwatershaiku.wordpress.com
Bill Waters~~ Not Haiku (blog within a blog): https://billwatershaiku.wordpress.com/bill-waters-not-haiku/
This Haiga was published in Prune Juice, A Journal of Senryu, Kyoka,
Haibun and Haiga, Issue 23, November 2017.
Note on the photo: I took this picture on a beautiful, sunny winter day in Greenwich Park, Greenwich, London. Greenwich Park is one of the beautiful Royal Parks that make city living a joy. The frost on the leaves and grass and the bright sunlight were just exquisite that morning.
A Poet in Time 