Tanka poems by Kayla

I thought i would explain one of my tanka poems for those not familiar with the many ways that they may be inspired .  My father was visited daily by a large white fallow cat that he nursed back to reasonable health.  That cat  he named puss,loved my father and would come from the woods to be with him.  The last time that i saw this cat he was sitting on top of a picnic table.  Years later i had this experience:


cleaning his face

on top of a picnic bench

a large white cat

my father's puss

raised from the dead



side yard

pigeons lift off flying

in circles

the path that my life

often takes



rabbit chewing clover

a hawk circles

overhead

such a delicate balance

this life of ours



dim stars overhead

bright flashes of fireflies

in the hedgerow

a car's headlights

wash out this whole scene