spring surprise—
flooding the porch
with endless sweet songs
a spunky wren peeks
out of a hanging fern
This tanka was published in Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2026: Volume 22, Number 1 in “Tanka Hangout”
Photo by Julie Zickefoose on Blogspot
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
~
Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay
~
once I welcomed
the darkening of winter
now I crave
the sweetness of honey,
the buzzing of bees
~
Photo: Medical News Today, August 29, 2018
In the latest issue of GUSTS, I’m so pleased to have three tanka published. I will enter each of the three poems separately in my blog. Remember, tanka is best read aloud so you can hear the music in the poem.
.
GUSTS no. 35, Contemporary Tanka,
Spring/Summer 2022 (Tanka Canada)
the last camellia
blooms in late winter—
it has taken a lifetime
for me to notice
beauty in myself
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
.
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
A Poet in Time 