Tuesday, November 29, 2016

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



Friday, November 18, 2016

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

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

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