Deer

in America

my first time seeing deer –

shy, delicate,

they appeared to me

though locals called them pests

Written for facebook group Tanka Poets On Site, 

for 25 Aug. 2025, prompt: Deer.

On a boat ...

 

on a boat

on a river

sunny day —

my friend sends photos

and I imagine

Actually one of my own photos from a different boating occasion.

Wing

gliding wing

swiftly across my sight

followed by 

a fragment of song –

Spring coming early

Written for facebook group Tanka Poets on Site, 

for 21 August 2025, prompt: Wing.

January micro 2023: 7

my Tarot client

speaks of her widowhood

and I too weep

*

ten years 

since he died —

by now

memories are both 

grief and joy

January micro 2023:5

When I stroke behind her ears

as she settles to sleep,

I love even more than her purr

the ecstatic curl and flex

of one little paw.

*

Sunday breakfast treat —

café style raisin toast

two fat slices

*

I draw Queen of Swords 

the independent woman 

also the widow –

happy to think of Andrew

and what a good life we made

September tanka – bee / grass

 

Clover

and dandelions

dance

on my front lawn –

but no bees hum

************

cutting the grass

beheading clover

and dandelions –

leaving in their space 

no shelter for snakes

Prompts from the Tanka Poets on Site facebook group

In heavy rain ...

in heavy rain
a tiny green tree frog
gives huge voice –
his joy my comfort
its deep steady throb

Sending a Signal

I swap 

the queen size bed

for a single –

telling the Universe: no,

I really don’t want company

lingering ...

lingering 

even in silence —

the sound of

that unanswered phone’s

reverberations

Dark times ...

Dark times. So hard
to find anything
that I can love.

First focus on the small:
leaves, flowers, young birds...

Winter is Coming: tanka

white trunk

of the eucalypt

swaying

against blue sky

while the air cools 

black and white

shapes flit in and out

of the trees —

busy magpies

six months old

on the breeze

that edge of cold

an aftertaste —

or a presage of

the inevitable

vines mingle —

pale pink flowers

of spring 

tricked by autumn, beside

wintry orange  blooms

Variations on a theme

Haiku: 


days of rain
baby water dragon*
likes my yard


*Eastern Water Dragon, Australian lizard.




Tanka:


in my yard
the intruder stands
with bold gaze
claiming ownership –
this tiny lizard



Cherita:

I look out through the glass door.


A baby water dragon stands proud
in the rain-soaked yard, gazing back.


I turn, grab my camera. In that moment
it disappears, I’m focused on an empty spot.
I still see the vivid defiance, the ownership.



'We must stay positive!' many exhorted, as fires destroyed much of my country. I found such advice intensely annoying. What, play for the sinking of the Titanic? And anyway, I felt I was only capable of dark, despairing poems. Then one wise friend advised me to find small things to still love about the world and write of them, so as not to pass even more despair to others. I couldn't at first; then, finally, turning to micropoetry seemed to offer a way.

(I've decided I like the cherita best on this occasion, and am making resolutions to use it more often.)

I'm sharing this at Weekly Scribblings #6 at Poets and Storytellers United: Turn Cliché Into Poetry or Prose.

Fires everywhere ..

Fires everywhere

horizons blanked out by smoke.

Never thought I

hater of cold as I am

would suddenly long for snow.

They cascade

they cascade

warm orange bright gold

down the vase

spilling fresh fragrance 
my friend's nasturtiums

Birthday Tanka

on my birthday

coconut macaroons

for breakfast

my toy teddies watching

this child of seventy-six

Yes, 'small stones' are supposed to be observations of the external world, not so much one's inner processes. Hope it works to put myself under the microscope on this occasion.

Past and Present LIves

In her vision

the cobra was black,

confronting her

with a large emerald

shining between its eyes.

I told her

she must have been a queen

in old Egypt.

She said she missed her slaves
(hated cleaning the house).