Tanka sequence

165 feet down 

drilling down 
to the other side 
of the world 
or to an aquifer, 
whichever comes first 

images 
of groundwater teeming
below our feet— 
the drought years we've had 
living on the surface 

well water 
speaks its own language 
as it streams 
into this bucket
… the rush of first words 

—red lights, January 2015

With this, I think I may take a break for a few weeks—many things I should do, and I also think I need to rest my eyes—though I may still post an announcement or two. I'm not sure who all my readers are, but thank you and please don't wander off too far. To the other side of the world and back, though, is okay.

A child's words; so small

a child's words

gator, monster, blue

scribbled 

on notepaper

in the waiting room

—Skylark, 2:2, Winter 2014

so small ...

but only a neutrino

can pass through

this universe

unscathed

—Skylark, 2:2, Winter 2014

The second one represents a slight departure for me.

Announcement: Tanka Society of America 2015 Contest; Tanka Time 2015

The Tanka Society of America invites you to enter the 2015 International Tanka Contest (in-hand deadline, June 30). For submission guidelines, see the TSA website or the upcoming winter issue of Ribbons, the TSA journal. We look forward to your participation again this year. On the website, you also can find winning poems and judges' reports for the 2014 contest and all previous contests. 

Plus, tanka poets, the TankaTime 2015 challenge is going on right now at Mandy's Pages. Check it out!

A wrist band

a wrist band

IDs me with name

and age—

still, all these people

ask me who I am

~hospital, Katy, Texas, USA

—Atlas Poetica 20, January 2015

The same sky

the same sky 
as in the city 
but vaster here 
above this pastureland, 
my thoughts given their space 

–3LIGHTS, Winter 2010

Not sharing

not sharing

my passion for poetry

he buys me

Pablo Neruda’s 

Odes to Opposites

—Fire Pearls 2 (anthology by Keibooks), 2013

How deftly; in love; 20-some years

how deftly

you maneuver the chopsticks—

with fork in hand

I study your routine

as if you were a gymnast

—I think this was published (2007?), but I can't figure out where

in love

over vegetable curry
I can’t stop staring. . .
this brown rice
isn’t one bit mushy

—Simply Haiku, Autumn 2006

20-some years

of knowing each other

we choose mild

for the heat level

of our chana masala

—Fire Pearls 2 (an anthology by Keibooks), 2013

A wasp

a wasp

inhabits the feeder

I start to refill—

my days so full

with plans I must change

—Simply Haiku, Autumn 2006

One of these days, before our next move, we should hang up this bird feeder again.