tanka – Page 6

Promise

The thunderous rain
a promise made between two
The cat meows, “No!”
Heavy rain becomes a storm
a promise broken again

Watching the sparrows
Birds become interesting
sitting by the sill
a spiritual knowing
mesmerised by the gossip

The forest is near
a deepening of onyx
The moonlit shadows
a vision of the wild sea
The house lights are my lighthouse

a purple blooming
The sky beyond the window
a cobalt blue day
The cascading chandelier
Wisteria in my view

Sunrise at seven
waking to a winter chill
feeling the cold sheets
a mellow morning coffee
Watching the colours lighten

drab brown aesthetics
puffy taffeta pink dress
a pencil and tape
loading the cassette player
dance to forget the cold war

caught by the summer
lost in a Monet painting
a honey-laced voice
propped up on a numb elbow
a delightful happenstance

To be a savant
a cool ring to the title
To be so brilliant,
yet shit at mathematics
Why must it be poetry?

Intricate buttons
skirmish with the little loops
Haphazard dressing
Angry energy rising
Ripping and throwing buttons

the imagining
of a war through the prism of
the old movie screen
they watch, and the terror comes
the sickness of gluttony