Tanka #1
the dark sky dropped
poured itself into footsteps
a rose, quieted
she pinches eggs from next door
and sells them for ice cream
Based on the poem “A Rose Quieted” from the chapbook Brushing Back History.
Tanka #2
metal biting thing
exposes pulp pink flesh
water marries beads
of blood that took seventeen
stitches to thread together
Based on the poem “Seventeen Stitches” from the [...]
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The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune; June 1, 1997
later two uniforms step up mother
shakes me awake her stuttering hands
nervous butterflies my shoulders escorted to parked
cruiser in navy blue silence handcuffs
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After the rain, the wind died in front of him. It
flowed down
the river, upright. The turbulence showed the
grass its seat,
and even the book seemed greener
than the shoes on his feet.
He grabbed the sun on either side,
directed the clouds to turn left,
but the clouds landed, grey and deflated,
in a yellow plastic pail. He clenched
his teeth, looked [...]
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
The landscape of your sorrow: a house
fallen, in the dark. You follow him