I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

31 August 2010

Always there's dancing: August Tanka 2010

Cascading orange
the neighbour’s vine and flowers
pour over my fence
announcing the early Spring
with a surge of warm colour.

3/8/10


I anticipate
summer’s blue sky, cool water —
but I’ll miss the creek
where I swam with pelicans
before we moved into town.

4/8/10


Heavy, steady rain,
gutters like torrents gushing —
and I’m out in it.
How delightful to come home
at last and write a tanka!

10/8/10


On this fine Spring day
the lawn is full of flowers:
bright dandelions,
clover, and unknown blue ones —
weeds I don’t want to remove.

17/8/10


In the fierce sun
by a pool in Italy
books are discarded
as the poet comes unstuck
'twixt melting verse, hot kisses.

18/8/10



Mum’s old sugar-spoon
that I saved after she died
is too tarnished now.
In my seventy-first year
I throw it out — my childhood.

22/8/10


Always there’s dancing
as your breast rises in sleep,
as the moon rises
like a white gardenia,
smoke and music dance on air.

24/8/10


Barbra Streisand sings.
My husband turns her up loud
while he makes coffee.
He brings it to me in bed
to the the strains of ‘I Loves You’.

31/8/10


The fifth and seventh were responses to tanka 
by Donall Dempsey at Tanka on Tuesday, MySpace

2 comments:

  1. I really loved your "10/8/10" Tanka

    I feel like I can relate to the last two lines. I think some "weeds" are truly beautiful. I never want to remove the dandelions in my driveway, even when they begin to overpower it! I feel like they almost have feelings, or something...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I feel like that too. I finally removed mine yesterday, as they were becoming overwhelming. I thanked them for the pleasure they had given me and said sorry for the necessity to remove them, and hoped that would suffice.

    I try to think of it as somewhat like insects: fine so long as they stay out of my space.

    But flowers are easier to love than insects. :-D

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated and will be visible after being approved by the blog owner. If you can only comment anonymously, please include your name in the comment, just so I know who's talking to me.