Scent of beeswax

I am still catching up with published poetry. Blithe Spirit is the publication of the British Haiku Society. They selected two haiku and two tanka of mine to publish in the winter issue.

Blithe Spirit Fall/Winter Issue 2022

 

1.

brevity
the ripeness
of a pear

 2.

children
fragile as blossoms
learning to let go

3.

fragrant spices, each
with a story to tell,
a bit of this, dash of that
     my pen moves as if
propelled by a stranger
 

4.

scent of beeswax
melting as we draw
invisible designs
on our pysanky eggs—
forgotten childhood

 

.

A few poems in Anthologies in 2022

Three of my poems appeared in various poetry anthologies in 2022:

~

 

a brief sigh
as your scan is finished –
far above us
sunlight edges its way
through swift moving clouds

Tanka Society of America 2022 Anthology

~

 

in a pile on the floor
sand, swimsuits, towels
and a single sea star . . .
how did such beauty slip
unseen into my life

Linda Jeanette Ward Anthology 2022
(An anthology in memory of the late tanka poet,
Linda Jeanette Ward.)

~

 

broken ice on the river –
fragmented memories
now rise up

British Haiku Society
Members’ Anthology 2022
Theme: “Water”

~

Sky151

A tiny fawn, dead… (Ukraine tanka)

Published in Kokaku, Summer/Fall 2022

~

a tiny fawn dead
by the side of the road –
I close my eyes & imagine
all those children lost
in Ukraine strikes

~

candlelight-gc591e5c78_1280

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay

Which way? (tanka)

~

having made it
halfway across, halfway back
I stop and pause
wondering which way
I really want to go

~

Published in Eucalypt 32 Tanka,  May 2022 Issue

~

Screen Shot 2022-10-18 at 5.27.13 PM

Tight-Rope Walker by Jean Louis Forain, c. 1885, Art Institute of Chicago

This tanka was inspired by a painting of a tightrope walker:
Tight Rope Walker by Jean Louis Forain, The Art Institute of Chicago

~

Winter birds

 

Presence #72, Spring 2022

.

winter birds crack seeds
& feast on blocks of suet –
my long morning is spent
polishing old pieces
of silver we rarely use

.

.

Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 3.07.18 PM

Photo by Stauffers of Kissel Hill