Collaborative tanka sequence: a swatch of gauze

Writing responsive or other collaborative sequences appears to be quite popular for many tankaists these days. Here's one I wrote with poet Jenny Ward Angyal (also see the previous post). In my several years as a tanka poet, I'd never collaborated in sequence form before; neither had Jenny. It was a fascinating experience, and I was honored to have such a good partner. Hope you enjoy the little journey we took as we responded to each other's words. Was the journey imaginary or "real"?

P.S. We decided to post this sequence on our respective blogs at around the same time.

a swatch of gauze

the clear wings

of a dragonfly

on my hand

a treasure map

of copper veins

poking 

into the hollow

of an oak

I search for pennies

stashed away by an elf 

hidden

among apple blossoms,

a gray tree frog—

I follow the trill

of another world

visions

of a watercolor

mountainside ...

how to get there

when I have no brush?

quilting

the blue ridge

in light and shadow

I slip through the eye

of my own needle

left right

north south east west—

a feather

on a course of zigzags

becomes my compass 

a sparrow

missing one eye

alights on my knee ...

the distant music

of a blind harper

rendered mute

by a waterfall—

in a grotto

of lava and fern

I speak in poems 

a scallop shell

bound in a bale 

of mulch—

my inland journey

to the sea

at home

among pine needles 

a strand

of golden thread

to bind my seams

—Jenny Ward Angyal and Janet Lynn Davis

Skylark, Winter 2013