A cardinal

a cardinal

darts in and out of the woods ...

my mad dash

to learn about life

before it's time to die

—red lights ("meditation"), June 2016

Haiga: Ordered

For information about this memorial, please see KYSO Flash, issue 6, Fall 2016.

Announcement: KYSO Flash HTP Contest Results

Recently, I received the surprising news of winning first place in the HTP Contest, a joint haibun and tanka prose competition administered by Clare MacQueen, editor/publisher extraordinaire of the innovative KYSO Flash online journal. To read my piece, "Approximations," as well as the other winning entries plus the semifinalist and publisher's choice entries, follow this link.

For commentaries by Matthew Paul, judge, follow this link.

Many thanks to Clare and Matthew!

The still life

the still life

I painted at sixteen

...  all this time

hanging in my parents’ house,

soaking up their hues

—Atlas Poetica, 22, summer 2015

Now it's hanging in my house. (Don't tell anyone, but my teacher helped me a little with the fine-tuning.)

Finally, a year after moving our father out of his large old house, going through it with a fine-toothed comb, then spiffing it up and listing it, it looks like we are close to a sale, crossing fingers.

Summer nights

summer nights

of sleepovers

and secrets ...

only the moon

stayed up as late

—Ribbons, Tanka Cafe (theme: spring/summer), spring/summer 2016

When we were young kids, why was it so exciting to spend the night with friends and cousins? And why was it such a thrill to stay up until at least midnight, whispering, and also, if we managed to pull it off, downing "midnight snacks"? Back when times were much simpler….

Touring homes

touring homes 

under construction— 

the freedom 

to step right inside

our neighbors' closets

—Atlas Poetica, 18, Summer 2014

Summer sun

summer sun

our minds bare and aligned

we discuss

both the pain of change

and the need for it

—Eucalypt, 19 (fall 2015)

I'll miss you

I'll miss you,

her thin hand interlocked 

with mine …

scars from childhood

begin to soften 

—red lights, June 2016