Wild Strawberries

A Responsive tanka sequence

Mary Kendall (USA) & Hazel Hall (Australia)

around the turn
we come across a patch
of wild strawberries
. . . a sudden longing
for something left behind                                                       ​​MK

dividing
our harvest carefully   
the taste​
of over-ripened fruit
lingers in the mouth                                                                     HH

searching everywhere
for that old blue sweater
one dropped stitch
and a secret hidden
in worn woolen strands​​​​​                                                            MK

unraveling
our future fears
. . . two sparrows
perched on the scarecrow
pull father’s scarf apart ​​​​​                                                          HH

somewhere in silence
lies an answer . . .
each spring the task
of double digging soil
before planting   ​​​​​​​                                                                     MK

wheel turning
I throw a new pot . . .
moulding hope
for the future,
a fragile process​​​​​​​                                                                      HH

Published in Ribbons, Winter 2018: Volume 14, Number 1