TANKA poems written in past Decembers

1998
recycling
week-old newspapers
I haven't read
hoping what I don't know
won't hurt me
~ ~ ~ ~

1999

no gift for me
under my tree
a reminder
that my beloveds are gone
never to return
[from M Oakley, AD-G]
~ ~ ~ ~

2005
do I
or do I not
invite him
to a New Year's Eve party?
I'm afraid of the "message."
~ ~ ~ ~

2006
first night in many
that our beloved longhair
won't jump into my bed.
his teenaged master finds
him lifeless in the road
~ ~ ~ ~

2008
after two nights
and a day, wind chimes
suddenly quiet
cold front & thunderstorm
finally passed through
~ ~ ~ ~

2011

an unwelcome gift
from California to Maine:
black widow spiders
in a shipment of parts
to a shipbuilding outfit
~ ~ ~ ~

2014
resting
atop
a hay bale
the black cat
watches
[photo, R.McFarland, AD-G]
~ ~ ~ ~

2015
dropped foliage
revealing a nest
in the dogwood
on closer look
a branch of oak leaves
~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
c 2016 PL

Cinquains from past Novembers

I gave Lydia one small African violet and look what happened.

They are in her west window. She feeds them as she waters.

BAKING DAY

Green beans

and onion fight

with the sweet aroma

of pear cobbler & blueberry

muffins.

[2008]

~~~~

MY CHILDREN, THANKSGIVING

One in

Florida, two

at in-laws; least one home

with new baby. Thank God for Mom,

siblings.

[2001]

~~~~

THANKSGIVING

So much

is being made

of tradition this year

of fear. Togetherness--all that

matters.

[2001]

~~~~

NO CROATIONS WANTED

Fifty

miles of razor

wire fencing, protecting

Slovenia from immigration

masses.

[2015]

~~~~

LITTLE RIVER COUNTY, ARK.

Voters

okayed selling

beer, wine, marijuana*

but nixed increasing library

millage.

* for medical purposes

[2016]

~~~~

HOLIDAY DECOR

Soft glow

of the mantel

decorated for fall:

butter churn, autumn leaves, pumpkins,

gourds, nuts.

[2013]

~~~~

FIFTEEN, NOW

Fourteen

new poems flowed

from my pen while 'living'

ten days at Dairy Hollow. Am

I blest!

[2012]

~~~~

~~~~

c 2016 PL dba lovepat press

November poems

Scene from the upper deck of 505, WCDH, Eureka Springs

A NEW DAY, A NEW ERA

Waking

to a Trump/ Pence

election landslide, and

angst about what's in store for our

country.

    (But)

Traffic

still passes, trains

still blare as they roar thru'

town. Life still exists and we'll get

through this.

[11.9.'16]

~~
~~

emptying compost

after dark

something dashes off

~~

coin toss decides

the mayorship after

a tie vote

~~

day his project's due

picture of Pandora's Box

in the newspaper

~~

yellowed soybeans

and fields of coreopsis

last trip to the creek

~~

a lone limb of green

on the yellow-leafed

tulip poplar