This is the first of two tanka published in:
Gusts No. 36 Contemporary Tanka
fall/winter 2022
so many bodies in Bucha,
even more mass graves
are dug and quickly filled
. . . no mourners, no prayers
at the gravesite today
Category Archives: tanka
Winter birds
Presence #72, Spring 2022
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winter birds crack seeds
& feast on blocks of suet –
my long morning is spent
polishing old pieces
of silver we rarely use
.
.
Photo by Stauffers of Kissel Hill
Making Amends
Moonbathing 26, Summer 2022
one by one trying
hard to make amends,
I separate fine strands
of webs I’ve made
to hide my mistakes
‘silk’
Panama hat/Venice
Published in Ribbons, TSA, Summer 2022
your Panama hat
blows off
into the Grand Canal –
if only our decisions
could be so free
Forgiveness . . . (a tanka for meditation)
.
Published in red lights, volume 18, no. 2, June 2022
.
.
with healing hands
placed over my heart,
I hear its whispering
voice between beats—
forgive, forgive, forgive
~~~
Dark morning & wild winds
.
.
Kokako #36, Spring 2022
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It’s always a joy to have the New Zealand poetry journal, Kokako, publish some of my poetry. For their spring issue, they chose a one-line haiku and two tanka. I hope you enjoy them.
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seabirds drift on thermals—night becomes day
.
.
~~~
cassia, lady slippers,
dutchman’s breeches, rue –
my garden becomes
the one circle of friends
I find it hard to leave
.
~~~
.
dark morning
filled with wild winds
that blow the birds awake
& by the crows’ swift,
and sharp reply
A Poet in Time 