Tanka         by         Kay F. Anderson

Today memories slipped out  
                unwanted
from cedar-scented shadows.
Now . . . I must forget you
                again.           HPNC, First Place, Tanka Contest 1995



Gone wandering
in a rice paper brush painting,
trees and grasses sway
and the red kite takes flight
in my heart                                             BRUSSELS SPROUT, Editor's Choice, Vol. XII: 2, 1995



Beyond a shoji screen
my eyes settle upon
a black-crowned night heron.
Together we sit into darkness
            with our needs                            BRUSSELS SPROUT, Vol. XII:3, 1995



bulldozers
cracking, crunching, clearing
centuries-old-trees . . .
and I can only stand remembering      
wildflowers in deep shade                      ACORN Tanka Supplement, 2001




polishing tanka
this duck I fed as a duckling
begs by the shore--
I struggle
with the other side of caring                    red lights, Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan. 2005



This torn end
of a letter from my father
reveals his pride in me.
When he lived,
we fought.                                                Wind Five folded, An anthology of English-Language Tanka, 1994