Tanka by Linda Jeannette Ward

where the remains

of slave quarters mingle

with tilled earth

a tourist couple

stuff Walmart bags with cotton

AMERICAN TANKA: Issue 12, Spring 2002

over toast and jam

all our wrong choices reviewed--

like a dragon's sigh

a cloud of whisked tea

floats between us

BLITHE SPIRIT: Vol. 14: No. 2, June 2004

under a moon

creased by hard rain

a man in streetlamp shadows

searches alleys

between shuttered doors

BLITHE SPIRIT: Vol. 14: No. 3, Sept. 2004

tinfoil moon

swinging in time

with each kick of her foot

the baby's last chance

to master the universe

BLITHE SPIRIT: Vol. 14: No. 4, December 2004

from a distant galaxy

dying stars

implode into black holes

--a spray of flour

from the sifter to the bowl

RED LIGHTS: Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2005

like a rosary bead

or a gypsy's charm

the secret lump in her breast

pressed

between thumb and finger

1st Prize, Yellow Moon Tanka Competition, Issue #16,

Summer, 2004

undecided

as to whether to remove

the caterpillar cocoon

from the floral lining

of her open casket

Blithe Spirit, Vol. 14 (3), September 2004

old now, i quit

my secure job anyway

walk a cold beach

untangle drowned ladybugs

from tide-line detritus

tangled hair, Issue #4, 2005

caught in folds of the fan

you gave me last night

grains of sand

have pierced pinprick holes

that scatter the rising sun

bottle rockets, Issue #11, 2004

straight and black

as the border

of an obituary--

the cut of her hair

he tangled through his fingers