Carpe Diem Haiku Kai‘s weekend tanka challenge…
A spring warbler casts
A dropping on the rice cakes —
The veranda edge. © Basho
you little party pooper
ruined our afternoon tea! © lynn__
bush warbler
warbler’s laugh
25 Nov 2019 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: party, spring, tea, veranda, warbler
follow
10 Nov 2019 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: follow, God, heart, prayer, voice
follow still small voice
where it quietly leads you
let God speak to heart
you may be an answer to
another person’s prayer
Link to #wispwrit#Writing#Challenge...and dedicated to my friend, Marie 🙂
quiet time
30 Sep 2019 1 Comment
in tanka Tags: conversation, devotion, God, prayer, quiet, spirit, Word
morning tea with God
prayerful conversation
listen to the Word
vital act of devotion
Spirit speaks into my life
Linking to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai‘s final post for month of pilgrimage…”an act of devotion”
clerestory pilgrimage
19 Sep 2019 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: butterflies, clerestory, migration, monarchs, pilgrimage, stained-glass
monarch butterflies
floating stained glass windows
reflect light’s glory
delicate creatures on winged
migration to paradise
Getty Images
boondocker sticker shock
30 Jun 2019 Leave a comment
in haiku series, tan renga, tanka Tags: cactus, cholla, desert, sunset, teddy bear
Renga series linked to weekend challenge at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai…
among dune grass
silver bleached logs
and a perfect day
we gather sticks for campfire
share stories of desert lore
desert sunset
cholla cactus sticks
to the light
gaze on painted desert sky
day ends in glorious flames
desert ways
branching all over
cholla cactus
slowly spreads across landscape
thick barrier to hikers
alone and asking
to be touched
teddy bear cholla
appears to be cuddly (not)
waits to stick barbs into you
overcoming rocks
a stream of cacti
slowly spreading
pieces fall to ground and sprout
sink roots down in desert sand
writing
desert poems
pencil cholla
words jump sharply like cactus
hope to make impressive point
Haiku verses © Jane Reichhold
Tanka responses © lynn__
joy of light series
10 Apr 2019 Leave a comment
in haiku series, tanka Tags: boats, colors, jazz, lights, piano, riverwalk
Continuing series for retreat at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai….
XVII.
san antonio
cruise boats glow neon colors
night life’s lights shimmer
piano music jazzes
river walk laughter ripples
photo by lynn
joy of light series
30 Mar 2019 11 Comments
in haiku series, tanka Tags: cat, eyes, glow, hunt, mice, night, pounce
XII.
glow of a cat’s eyes
hunting for unwary mice
stealthy night prowler
tail twitches, whiskers quiver
hunch low, slink silent, then pounce!
No joy in this for the mouse (obviously) but another take on “joy of light” theme at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
standing on the heights
14 Mar 2019 Leave a comment
in senryu, tanka Tags: air, blue, lungs, mountain, summit, Torreys
A few years ago, I climbed Mt. Torreys with my brother who has climbed many of Colorado’s 14ers. (Photo found at all trails)
inhale mountain air
top-of-world experience
scale barren summit
bird’s eye view of blue vista
worth gulping lungs, aching legs
photo by Brian Mehringer
silent (pause) paws
17 Feb 2019 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: coyote, death, howl, prey, rabbit, scent, snow
shadowed rabbit tracks
blue moon illuminates snow
coyote’s eerie howl
keen nose follows scent of prey
end is mercifully swift
Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai invites us to find a haiku from our archives and re-write it. I decided to post a haiku I submitted to a poetry contest last year…and make it a tanka. Death is part of life in our natural world.
veiled tears
06 Feb 2019 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: Choctaw, justice, mist, poverty, turnpike
Choctaw nation land
low mist filters thru dead trees
ancestor spirits
crying out for true justice
turnpike poverty hidden
taka tanka
31 Jan 2019 3 Comments
in tanka Tags: fence post, grass, hawk, predator, silent
“Taka” is Japanese word for hawk. “Tanka”is Japanese poetry form.
red-tailed predator
eyes alert, talons sharpened,
silent as fence post
waits for slightest rustling
small creature disturbs switch grass
portent
11 Jan 2019 5 Comments
in impressionism, tanka Tags: blackbirds, caw, clouds, hail, storm, thunder, wheat
wild swoop over wheat
blackbirds caw in unison
ominous wing beat
storm clouds darken horizon
thunder rumbles threat of hail
Link to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai featuring “blackbird” kigo.
a poem in my pocket 
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