Breathless; a cottontail

breathless,

will I ever slow down

my racing thoughts?

a roadrunner pauses

on the sunlit grass

a cottontail

camping out in a bed

of garlic ...

why am I drawn to things

that ought to repel me?

—both tanka in Atlas Poetica, #18, Summer 2014

Summer gone

summer gone

a crowd of Susans

against the fence ...

dark eyes still smiling

in their come-hither way

—The Bamboo Hut, vol 1, no. 2, January 2014

Bowing branches

bowing branches

where wildlife feasted—

shameful of me

to long for the berries

that briefly adorned them 

—A Hundred Gourds, 3:2, March 2014

Pictured above: American beautyberry, a native plant that grows like weeds all over our property. This year, the iridescent berries, which I always eagerly anticipate, are still quite thick. However, last year, when the above tanka was written, they didn't last long. Also refer to a former post.

A fleeting feeling

a fleeting feeling
of permanence—
my feet set
on this parking lot
of steaming concrete

—Streetlights, Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, 2009

A cool front recently stormed through, meaning that the highs were "only" in the upper 80s. But I suspect we'll have quite a few more days of steaming concrete before autumn truly sets in. 

The first voice

the first voice 

I hear this morning ... 

a cardinal 

calling, calling, as if life 

depended on it

—cattails, May 2014

Announcement: All Things Tanka, etc.

Tanka Poets:
Please be sure to stop by Ken Slaughter's blog, All Things Tanka, where everything he talks about is…tanka. You'll find news and submission deadlines for journals and contests—all in one place.

Also, congratulations to poet/editor Beverley George of Pearl Beach, Australia, who won the Tanka Society of America's recent giveaway. Her prize, a 2015 TSA membership (which includes a subscription to Ribbons, the TSA journal)!

A house spider

a house spider

jaunts across the tile—

the crannies

yet to be explored

within these walls

—A Hundred Gourds, 2:4, September 2013