Announcement: June Tanka Contests

Calling All Tanka Poets: Entries are currently being accepted for the following contests:

• KYSO Flash HTP Contest (haibun/tanka prose)—deadline June 15

• Mandy's Pages Annual Contest—deadline June 30

• Tanka Society of America 2016 Sanford Goldstein Annual Tanka Contest—deadline June 30

At Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC, June 2015

Strolling the streets; the shift

strolling the streets

of the happiest place

in America ...

had I remembered

I would have worn a grin

~ San Luis Obispo, California, USA, August 2013

—Skylark 2:2, winter 2014

It actually was a happy place. I'd happily visit again!

the shift

in my disposition

when I notice

that train is carrying

The Greatest Show on Earth

~railroad crossing, Waller County, Texas, USA

—Atlas Poetica, 20, January 2015

A long, sleek, spotless train, no graffiti. As an adult, I tend to be a little bothered by the notion of circuses (some might say "The Cruelest Show on Earth"?). Yet for a few moments, I felt something magical as that train transported me back. 

Note: Earlier this month, performing elephants were officially retired from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, ending a 145-year tradition.

Tanka sequence

Shop of scents 

each soap 

a piece of artwork … 

part of me knows

the sculpted designs 

will in time wash away

a fresh spray 

of "triple cool mint"— 

this desire 

to smell like a patch 

of garden herbs 

"lavender silk" 

for experienced skin ... 

I buy a bar, 

trusting the store clerk 

to keep my secret 

—red lights,  vol. 12, no. 1, January 2016

This shop is in San Luis Obispo, California.

Collaborative tanka sequence ("tanka pair")

I'm pleased to post this tanka pair, a collaboration with the talented Jo McInerney:

Mementos 

Janet Lynn Davis, USA ("what to keep")
& Jo McInerney, Australia ("we repair")

what to keep, 
what to throw away ...
tiny rhinestones 
missing from the wings 
of her butterfly brooch 

we repair 
her diamante bow 
before pinning it 
to her burial shift ...
the hope of resurrection 

—Skylark, 4:1, Summer 2016

From Jo:
The woman for whom this tanka was written was Mum's oldest sister and outlived her by 27 years. She was my daughter's surrogate grandmother and my second mother. When she died I felt as though I had been orphaned again. 

From Janet:
This is my first Mother's Day without the earthly presence of my mother, Joan (pronounced JoAnn), who passed away on April 20 after a lengthy, debilitating illness. The world feels a little silent now. (I did, of course, keep the butterfly pin.)

Joan 

A tree frog

a tree frog

clings to the rain gauge ...

lingering drought

—Presence, issue 54, 2016

No drought here recently but, instead, torrential rains (not long ago, 20 inches in a day or two). This little frog, or one of its relatives, often hangs around our gauge, especially during extreme weather conditions, it seems.

Early spring

early spring 

the soft growth of antlers ...

a chill

each time my eyes meet his

on the hunter's trophy

—Skylark (a "Skylark's Nest" runner-up), 3:2, Winter 2015

Lost on a day

lost on a day

as gray as the road … 

mapless

I follow my instincts

to find the way home

—GUSTS, #23, spring/summer 2016

With the news

with the news
a faint dusting of snow ...
the word hospice
lodged in my mind,
freezing melting freezing

—GUSTS, #23, spring/summer 2016