without the walker
you glide across the room
and then I awaken

tanka #1

cherry in full bloom
poised to release its petals
clinging to this moment
I suddenly recall
I am well past my prime

76th

just a light dusting

in your uppermost branches -

white magnolia

75th

wispy willow

awaiting her fountains -

billows of longing

74th

dusk mockingbird

sings into the stillness

and the deep earth hums

73rd

and she waits

thorns glistening with rain -

woody rosebush

72nd

the moan of March winds

in April -

nature's April Fool

71st

patient pear tree

offers tiny bud bouquets

to the cloudless blue

70th

pendulous blossoms

release ripening spring -

magnolia

69th

weeping cherry

your long flowing pink beard

makes me smile

68th

dogwood, magnolia -

your names are hidden to me

until you flower

67th

dogwood draped in white

how bittersweet the tossing

of your bouquet

66th

dark clouds open and

(bright crescent deeply set) close -

ephemeral gift

65th

brush of the sunset

dips low -

cherry blossoms

64th

most fragrant haiku

formed with love by a small boy

five crocus bouquet

63rd

a sea of starlings

furiously pecks for seed

mud sucking at claws

62nd

old cat reflected

in shiny ceiling fan blades

soon to spin alone

61st

sycamore shelters

tiny terraced drift of snow

fingered by the wind

60th

the rocks wait, lined up

a rainbow on a felled tree

for me to notice

59th

we bend down nose close

green flecks ready to unfurl

near melting snowballs

58th

scent of the moist earth

(my heart is full of flowers)

you will melt the snow

57th

creaky swinging bridge

thump of walking stick on slats

the river whispers

56th

pale crocus rising

leans in against the tombstone

where my shadow falls

55th

laughing rookie ducks

salty snowball smacks the chief

red engine, half hosed

54th

flickering light prick

embedded in the dark night -

you held onto life

53rd

assume the posture -

gnarled tree bent low now budding

you after cancer

cold front

all night long she moans

emptiness pregnant with sound

emptiness barren

52nd

bright line connecting

me to your hospital bed

jet-stream etch-a-sketch

51st

stooped arthritic tree

wrapped in vines against the wind

pale moon smiles coolly

50th

natural artist -

bare birch tree inks in shadows

across its scrolled skin

49th

tangled undergrowth

forgotten clumps of old hair

caught in nature's brush

48th

pulling plump package

over ice, tug slackens

son's smile gliding by

47th

natural artist -

bare birch tree inks in shadows

across its scrolled skin

46th

this sweet morning

the world is freshly dusted

with powdered sugar

45th - New Year's Day

country club sand traps

champagne frozen to the brim

left-over bubbly

44th

open-wombed dark tree -

are you pouring forth snow drifts?

the white ground rises

43rd

black licorice trees

against vanilla sky

tossing down sprinkles

42nd

crackling camp fire -

music of life, call of death -

cracking of felled tree

41st

weeeee! running, skidding

down, pull, grunt, skid-into-pole,

crash! laughing in snow

40th

pristine slice of ice

tossed aside to clear a path

forever shattered

thirty ninth

well-polished blankets

sculpted by a master hand

brighten their tombstones

thirty eighth

when trees dream of spring -

new shoot, secret blossom dreams -

squirrel nests are born

thirty seventh

winter tummies rule

even the big-bellied cat

trips my legs for treats

thirty sixth

miles of sleeping trees

dotted with life in high spots:

squirrel nests, plump full

thirty fifth

beaconing beach grass

tall fronds glow in frozen light

my companions home