Thursday, June 18, 2026

Orphanage Gate Tanka

hand-me-down shirts
with elbows worn thin
in dim twilight
each boy's gaze tracks the couple 
past the orphanage gate



Added:

this fresh morning
I wake alone to the world
of broken dreams ...
yet outside new leaves bud
from an oak stump


Added:

alone
in California golden light
slanted through the room ...
I close my eyes, listening
to the child in my mind's corner


Added:

I waved at her
beyond the departure gate 
yet she didn’t turn ...
memories of her packed
into the folds of my mind