Tanka

 

artichoke season

sharing my heart

I try

to slice it

evenly

       Winner, 2005 Tanka Calendar Competition, Winfred Press & Clinging Vine Press

 

tossing a lid

into a cabinet

full of plastic

I long to hear

a plate shatter

       Tanka Splendor Award, AHA Books, October 2005

 

the details

of his lousy day

over dinner

I offer him

a knife

         Mariposa 18, Spring 2008; Haiku Poets of Northern California President’s Chime Award 2008

 

 

in a steady rain

the patio umbrella

with arms at its side

has no answers

either

         American Tanka, Issue 14, 2004; Something That Matters: Life, Love, and Unexpected Adventures in the Middle of the Journey, Ed. Elizabeth Fishel and Terri Hinte, Oakland, CA: Harwood Press, 2007; and Parenteen Newsletter, Fall 2008

 

 

she paused

in her crying to ask me

not to make this–

her crying–

into a poem

         Haiku Poets of Northern California Newsletter #44, Winter 2007

 

 

 

---