Selected Tanka: Weight of Burden Tanka

not seeing
we pass by each other
then disappear --
snow traces the weight
of each burden

Modern English Tanka, 11, Spring 2009

Selected Tanka: Sound of Snow Tanka

distressed
in the wake of a dream
I hear
time passing
in the sound of snow

Modern English Tanka, 11, Spring 2009

Loneliness Tanka

walled in a room:
a clutter of books
a coffee-stained desk
stacks of returned mail
a mind unrested

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Relationship Tanka

I don’t expect
much of you
our front-yard garden
changing hues
as the season turns

Revision Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Photo Tanka

these photos
of you and me —
constant reminders
of things
not yet lost

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Maple Tanka

eyes fixate
on bare branches of a maple
standing still
I wait silently
for time’s passing

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Night Tanka

night deepens
with piercing cries
of a cat —
I hear
my heart throbbing

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Summer Tanka

startled geese
fill the blue sky —
happily on green grass
kids run
and chase each other

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Recession Tanka

clutching stocks and bonds
the Dow Jones flees
the onslaught of winter
squalls of white
bury my life

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Relationship Tanka

shot
by the gleam in your eyes
I am wounded
blinded in daylight
tortured by moonrays

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Dream Tanka

walking along
dreamlike corridors
I seek you
by groping in the dark
both hands touching nothing

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Moon Tanka

at the sight
of a crescent moon
in star-struck darkness —
the moth eyebrows
of my beloved

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Life Tanka

the world
of morning dews, campfires
maple leaves, and snowflakes
is a world
under the same sun

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Tanka on Writing

with a click
I send out
my tanka —
time seems to crawl
from that moment

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Time Tanka

bobbing up and down
in the ocean of time —
my mind drifts
to the shore
at daybreak

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Tanka on Writing

hopefully
each word I weave
into my tanka
forms the fabric
of daily life

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English Tanka

Dream Tanka

I go see her
along the road of dreams --
days slip away
nothing changes
except my dreams

Summer 2009 issues of Modern English tanka

Relationship Tanka

live and sleep
with you
aging over time —
yet the same woman
i married 17 years ago

Spring 2009 issue of Modern English Tanka

Relationship Tanka

all ears
attuned to your words —
like ripples
chase the caress
of spring breeze

Spring 2009 issue of Modern English

Snow Tanka

peel away
one shovel width of snow
at a time —
one, two, three...
eyeglasses fog up

Spring 2009 issue of Modern English