My thanks to David Kelly for selecting the following senryu as an Editor's Choice:
probate
a prickle of burrs
in the dogs' tail
Commentary:
On first reading, this piece by Debbie Strange appears a simple comparison. However, having heard of other people's experiences of probate, this poem came to life as I revisited those stories. The law appears so insensitive to people suffering grief. It must be difficult enough, trying to straighten the financial affairs of a loved one once they have died, without having to jump through a myriad of legal hoops. The single word, 'probate' must surely strike dread into the hearts of those who have wrestled with it before. To my mind, the thorny tangle of legislation around probate matches, so very neatly, the mess that burrs can make in a dog's tail.
apricity curling myself into it
candle ice
our paddles break it
into music
and still
I am cut to the heart
by these blades
of wild iris swaying
around your tomb
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