(2013)
I wrote this tanka about the month of October.
The spotlight glares down Bright, bright, sight, sight My cloak swiftly surrounds White, White, Swish, Swish, The fabric shell billows but stays
The end of the road A distance we all travel Darkness as moonlight Spreads over stone and flowers That litter our path ahead
To cover the tears Some men will drown their sorrows Some just run away Some even will board their hearths To me? A path of rom-com
No words escape me The sun will rise tomorrow Or so I am told
Is there something dark? Dark, dark, deep down inside me Something that keeps me Away from the center ring A divergent path indeed
My White Cloak Part one: Place Entering day by day (1) Into a place to grow and stay Into the foundational walls of old
Anticipation Generic butterflies swarm Twists, knots, fluttering They find no golden nectar Only number two pencils
Distractions of youth Parade like bright spring flowers Always on the mind Entangling my weak heart To the land of mud and ice
A blank white tablet Fuzzy buzzing silences Click, click, click, and yet That single black divider keeps Blinking an endless cycle
Life’s obligations A daunting sea of turmoil With crest after crest I’ll hide in this briny shell Till the tide forgets my name
Foggy morning sky Your veil remains untouched by The flags of Autumn How cruel of you to kidnap Such keen keepsakes of your kin
Red and orange glitter Dancing delicately high Above winding paths Falling to the great grey streams Falling for grace, or duty?
Busy decisions Like an endless moon cycle Such a waxing life
A sudden waking From formless blinking through dre… Please, just one more year! Surprised to glance the moon’s fac… An hour before her phase
Bickering tree frogs Endless croaking back and forth Dream a soothing song One where two branches can meet In this capital forest
