And now, here is the third tanka published in GUSTS, no. 34, Contemporary Tanka, Fall/Winter 2021.
so much silence
during the pandemic year
now punctuated by news
of your cancer—
the silence deepens
.
Two of three . . . (tanka)
Here is the second of three tanka published in GUSTS, no. 34, Contemporary Tanka, Fall/Winter 2021.
The pandemic has made all of us look at life and death differently and perhaps more clearly.
one day when I am
long gone from the world,
you’ll find me here
& there among scarlet leaves
or blue damselflies
One of three . . .(tanka)
In the latest issue, GUSTS no. 34, Contemporary Tanka, Fall/Winter 2021, I am lucky enough to have three tanka published. I’ve read through the whole journal twice so far to enjoy the excellent submissions from such a wide variety of poets. Paper journals are especially nice in that you have them at hand when you need something good to read.
Here is one of the tanka I wrote:
growing old together
we make light of losing
thoughts or words –
even now I fall in love
with you again
Spring’s soft greening (tanka)
Like so many other people, the year and a half pandemic has thrown my sense of time way off. I’m so far behind in posting newly published poems on this blog that I find myself now playing catch up. I am both honored and happy to have had such fine journals select some of my work to publish in 2021.
both of us relieved
we made it to this side
of the pandemic –
falling back in love
with spring’s soft greening
Published in Ribbons, Tanka Café, Spring 2021
The Silent Surprise
Published in Blithe Spirit, 31.3 2021
~
A responsive tanka sequence between Mary Kendall (USA) & Hazel Hall (AUS)
The Silent Surprise
a life piled
in a shopping trolley –
the cold
cathedral steps
kept clean and tidy HH
broomcorn gathered
and plaited, tied and cut –
if only the years
had passed so neatly
without much fuss MK
lawn raked free
of twigs and leaves
green bin full
a mob of cockatoos
prunes the trees once more HH
shouts of confusion
and chaos in teargas clouds
that burning need
to make sense
of why we looked away MK
from antique lands
an ancient epic
rewritten
this shattered visage
covered in graffiti HH
the silent surprise
of a bundle of letters
bound in red string
hidden deep
in the endless rubble MK
My thanks go to Hazel Hall, one of my favorite tanka writers in the world. This is our second collaboration in writing a responsive tanka sequence.
Note: Hazel’s verses are in regular type; Mary’s verses are in italics
Shadow…(haiku/senryu)
day moon ~
no shadow on
my mammogram
Published: Blithe Spirit 31.3 2021
A haiku or a senryu? I love this poem very much, and I’m so grateful to Caroline Skanne, the editor of Blithe Spirit, for choosing it for publication.
I have always been fascinated with seeing a “day moon.” I’ve always considered it a sign or good luck or something fortunate happening or about to happen. Do you have any thoughts about seeing the moon out during the daylight hours? Is it magical to you? It is for me.
A Poet in Time 