eve of a deadline
for the climate change report ...
from this blank page
I gaze out at a garden snail
who sets its own pace
Honorable Mention, Tanka, 2025 San Francisco International Competition
Judge's Commentary: Once again, a tanka that shifts seamlessly from the human world to nature. The specificities of “climate change report,” “blank page” and “its own pace” heighten the effect. We, too, have the stress of deadlines to control and change the damage we have done to the environment. Nature, represented by the snail, moves at its own pace. This observation of the humble snail will perhaps inspire the writer to move forward.
