January 2014

New Year's Day
the heat of the moment
all over us

trickling stream . . .
stones at rest gather
smoothness

step by step
our paths merge together
as water and wine . . .
in these unplanned moments
we sip eternity

cattails Premier Edition - January 2014
Editor's Choice - Tanka

Editor's comments:

Being a hopeless romantic and given that tanka originated as court poetry, this one by Hansha Teki of New Zealand, is one of my Editor's Choices. The rhythm being approximately s, l, s, l, l, right off qualifies it as a tanka rather than just a free verse or mainstream short poem. The content is poetic yet not overly done, nor does it lack either in substance or depth. Lines 1 and 2 set up the situation, line 3 gives us a pause plus a twist instead of simply being a run-on sentence. Lines 4 and 5 bring us back to the beginning which gives us closure. Literally “we sip eternity” of unplanned moments with its author.

— cattails Principal editor an'ya, USA

waxing moon —
my shadow lingers
over hers

night wind —
the sound of light
on the wick

gracing
a patina of grace
a stain marks
the loss

ancient one,
your voice too sounds 
of cicadas

kite flying
I strain beyond
my words

morepork,
keep watch with me
through ancient light

farflung stars
darkness mantles me
in its wings

farflung night
a morepork mantles
a cold egg

a bird cocks its head
at nothing — within this hush
a priest breaks the bread

no mere
patina of grace;
well-worn aves

my footprint
soled, souled, sold
silting up

rising tide
eyes awash with the moon
two by two

my footprint
as if it matters
I once am

keeping still
I deepen my roots
in the void

wild honey —
how the clover glows
in her eyes!

what of it?
cherry blossoms
and the moon

gaping wound —
a poem
without the moon

awakening
from such light caress
a peony's folds

under the moon
her hands cup the gift
of her self

haiku moon —
a morepork recites
to its own

never alone . . .
blanket man paces out
the southern cross

freckle-face
her wrinkling nose becomes
newsworthy

another moon —
still the otherness
of her body

breathstop . . .
a praying mantis
shifts weight

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