Redlights, June 2018:
when you were six
I longed to keep you
that age forever
once upon a time
I knew you so well
Dedicated to my son, Adam.
.
Category Archives: tanka
Only four . . . (two tanka)
Published in Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2018: Volume 14, Number 2
the squeak
of the old swing . . .
only four when carefully taught
to keep that secret
to myself
This tanka was published in the Tanka Café of Ribbons
the little girl’s doll
marred by lipstick
scrawled on her face
. . . maybe this time
mother will notice
As if on cue . . . (Senryu/Tankart)
Published: Failed Haiku, a Journal of English Senryu, Volume 3, Issue 31,
July 2018
Guest editors: Lori A. Minor and Chase Gagnon
Primary editor: Michael Rehling
Note: I’d like to thank my dear friend, Christine M. Kalke for her permission to use her beautiful photograph that was taken in Scandinavia during one of her visits. The digital art work was done by me.
No looking back… (tanka)
Moonbathing, A Journal of Women’s Tanka, Issue 18, Spring/Summer 2018
blue-black mussels
torn from harbor rocks
fill the worn rusty pail –
there was no looking back
when I left you
Child Mind
Poetry Corner: Our Precious Children
Our Poetry Corner today touches on the theme “Our Precious Children”, with Ross Anthony, Linda Papanicolaou, Johannes S. H. Bjerg, Billy Howell-Sinnard, Giselle Maya, Lois P. Jones, Kathy Uyen Nyguen, Patty Hardin, Gillena Cox , Marlene Alexa, and Mary Kendall . Photos by Michael Czarnecki, Robert Johnston and Tom Clausen. The Poetry Corner is hosted by Kathabela Wilson.
Please follow this link to read the whole article and all the wonderful poems. My thanks to Kathabela Wilson for inviting me to contribute this tanka.
https://coloradoboulevard.net/poetry-corner-our-precious-children/
Note: This tanka was written in 2015, and, to my surprise, Kathabela Wilson remembered it. She invited me to share it for her lovely column on Precious Children. What a lovely honor.
(I later created a piece of Tankart using a much different version of this tanka. It is on my blog.)
The faded notes … (two tanka)
Ephemerae, a new journal of hakai, Volume 1A, April 2018 has just been published in the U.K. I am honored to have two tanka included in this first edition. Edited by Shrikaanth K. Murthy, there are over 160 fine poets included from around the world.
returning again
to the faded notes
scribbled in margins
I search for traces
of who you really were
…
reflected
in a bookshop window
sun glinting behind
your image imposed
over mine
Both tanka (c) 2018 Mary Kendall
A Poet in Time 