My thanks to the judge, an'ya, for her lovely commentary!
dried cattails
delicately spun with frost
confections
sweetening the bitterness
of winter without you
2nd Place
2022 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition
Judging Commentary:
In Second Place is this charming tanka by Debbie Strange. Only an experienced and very aware tanka poet would notice that the "dried cattails/delicately spun with frost" look like "confections". This is a fine example of "showing" rather than "telling". She continues showing in the final lines with her use of the words "sweetening", and then relates it to a human element with "the bitterness of winter without you". Debbie has chosen her words very purposely which sets her tanka apart from others. Well done by this author, as usual. Thank you Debbie!
