Moonbathing, Issue 28, Spring/Summer 2023

 Honoured to be included in this final issue of Moonbathing!

imperial moths

dapple the pathway

with sunlight . . .

wherever you lead,

I will follow

Moonbathing, Issue 27, Fall/Winter 2022

an empty nest

of plant down and rootlets

somewhere

the cries of snow geese

entreat me to forget

Moonbathing, Issue 26, Spring/Summer 2022

dawn unfurls

with the radiance

of celebration

this day was made

for no one but you

 

Triveni Haikai India, February 2022

My thanks to Pamela Babusci for selecting the following tanka for the Triveni Spotlight Feature on February 13, 2022:

a halo around

the long night moon . . .

I find

another strand

of mother's light

Tenth Annual Moonbathing Contest Winner

Moonbathing 19, 2018

Moonbathing, Issue 25, Fall/Winter 2021

a knot of clouds

unravels into rain

these freshets

of grief welling up

again inside me

 

Moonbathing, Issue 24, Spring/Summer 2021

a slick

of moonlight across

dark water

the way our wounds

fill up with silver

Moonbathing, Issue 23, Fall/Winter 2020

wind-stung,

our cheeks bloom

redder

than these poppies

we lay upon your grave

Moonbathing, Issue 22, Spring/Summer 2020

I wait for you . . .
nakedness perfumed
with almond oil
a veil of starlight
pinned over my hair

Moonbathing, Issue 21, Fall/Winter 2019

laden boughs
tremble in ambient light
I catch
a fleeting memory
of you holding my hand

Moonbathing, Issue 20, Spring/Summer 2019

uncertainty
seeps through the fog . . .
we can't find
our footing on this bridge
already crossed

Moonbathing, Issue 19, Fall/Winter 2018

all night long
blue geese mutter
on the lake . . .
if only I knew
how to say goodbye


a halo around
the long night moon . . .
I find
another strand
of mother's light

Winner
10th Annual Moonbathing Tanka Contest

Moonbathing, Issue 18, Spring/Summer 2018

wind murmurs
through prairie grasses
the bones
of my ears listen
to what is unspoken

Moonbathing, Issue 17, Fall/Winter 2017

seed pearls
dangle from the bodice
of her gown,
yellowed now with age
and broken promises

Moonbathing, Issue 16, Spring/Summer 2017

on this day
of my atonement
your face
a fragile watermark
at the edge of sky

Moonbathing, Issue 15, Fall/Winter 2016

all night long
the wind's elegy
for autumn . . .
in a musty trunk,
unworn baby clothes

Moonbathing, Issue 14, Spring/Summer 2016

barnacles
cling to foam-flecked rocks
e x p o s e d
at my lowest ebb
I yearn to let go

Moonbathing, Issue 13, Autumn/Winter 2015

a sirocco
blows us homeward
scoured clean
our every wound
healed

Moonbathing, Issue 12, Spring/Summer 2015

a monk
places the last grain
of sand
on the mandala
everyone e x h a l e s

Moonbathing, Issue 11, Fall/Winter 2014

the dust
of moon and stars
on my skin
that winter i learned
all the ways to shimmer

Moonbathing, Issue 10, Spring/Summer 2014

my hands
tend the wild roses
upon your grave
in blood and blossoms
I sanctify your name