dolls nestle
within dolls
within dolls
within dolls
within spies
Tag: tanka
875
running, yelling
who’ll be police
who’ll be gangstas
who’ll chalk the bodies
little boys at play
781
living in a house
of nine small rooms
then stepping outside
into bright sunshine–
our buddha nature
(Paraphrase of Daisaku Ikeda,
The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, vol. 4)
777
where are the boys
up before sunrise
to hurl ink smeared
newspapers into hedges
and milk bottles
741
splashing in rainbows
shards of strobe lightning
southern comforted soul
grates pieces of her heart
into the microphones
(for Janis, of course)
669
hitch-hiking along
the Oregon coast
ten thousand candles
blaze just for me
and ships at sea
648 tanka
white bearded man
waves a gun
in the bank
wonders what
he came in for
627 suicide
few survived
stepping off the bridge
and all report
a change of heart
in mid-air
599
the grandtoddler
our mystery guest
everything he does
clues of ourselves
or his other lives
592
you’ve gone where
fully packed stadiums
wait, chant, and clap
for you to read your verse
and speak their hearts
537/tanka
struts and shocks are shot
on our old sturdy Camry
wife wants a new car
with no dashboard cassette deck
for my Eagles collection
六十六 (Rewrite)
534/tanka
drop by drop by drop
that bamboo pail grows fuller
bangs on a boulder
a gunshot scaring away
deer feasting in the garden
六十六
Dark Matter tanka
Creation’s a tree
of ornaments, lights, tinsel
so bedazzling
its dark branches go unseen
cradling the galaxies.
414/ tanka
maybe after all
there’s God, Angels, gold slippers
my church goer friends
catcalling downwards to me
see, told you so, told you so
405 / tanka
for jacking prices
on drugs five thousand percent
I will seek you out
to bargain with in Hades
a small drop of ice water
