Tanka poem by Kayla

the sun rises

above the poplars,

on this special day

december 12,2012

seeing the date as 12-12-12

tanka poems by Kayla

not affected

by the tragedy of war,

nor by fear,nor by evil,

the honey bee collects her honey

and the mockingbird sings her song.



not the rumble of thunder,

nor the sound of gunfire,

nor the sound of a storm,

but the sound of fireworks

fills this July night sky.



she's 3000 years old,

and i am fascinated

by her eyelashes,

how beautiful,

how delicate.



suddenly.

the flame up of a match,

my youth

has come

and gone.



1

train crossing.

signals flashing,

wheels clanging on rails,

boxcars swaying side to side,

followed by the end car,


2

its red strobe light flashing,

disappears into the darkness,

the spirit

of my father

rides into the night.

Tanka by Kayla

measuring

my life

in terms of renewals

i realize

there's little time left

Haiku by Kayla

autumn

summer robins gather

in withered fields



my lost sister

the campfire out

ashes blow in the wind



mother's grave

leaves fall gently

on the still earth



mother's grave

i sweep away the leaves

revealing her name



bird flies away

the calico cat

flicks her tail

Tenkara

It's been a while since my last post,I have been busy with life and have discovered a new  passion,Tenkara fly fishing.  Tenkara is an ancient Japanese method of fly fishing.  It uses only a rod ,fly line and a fly,....no reel is used and the fly line is attached to the end of the pole.  The fly line is usually the length of the rod ,the rod  is long between 10 and 15 feet. I have also been tying  lots of   Japanese style tenkara flies. The flies are simple only a hook,hackle and thread are used.  The pattern i use is called sakasa kebari ( reversed hackle fly) , anyways it is a lot of fun !!! If your interested in more information go to www.tenkarausa.com

If you have any questions leave me a comment....michaela

My birthday

the sun rises

above the trees

on this may morning

i contemplate the many trips

i have made around our star

Tanka poems by Kayla

walt whitman's tomb

seeing leaves of grass

still growing there

i imagine hearing him say

what i assume you shall assume



mausoleum

seeing only darkness

through the peephole

i look into the past

and into the future



a little girl

plays with her doll

on the side porch

memories of my sister

holding emily susan



accidently

smearing a gnat across my page

i examine the stain

that a moment ago

was full of life



how would i know

that it would end like this

the harvest moon rising high

above the poplars

and me thinking of you



am i to end in dust

then set me free in the sky

swirlling in the sun's light

a rainbow colored kite

dancing in the wind



flying my fighter kite

tiny violets share the spot

where i am standing

on the surface of the earth

revoling around a star

Making Handmade Books: The Cover is Not the Book

Making Handmade Books: The Cover is Not the Book: At the College Book Art conference this year, Buzz Spector , book artist, theoretician, and educator and Brewster Kahle , computer engineer...