The Wombwell Rainbow, January 2023

National Hat Day Feature: January 15, 2023

(note: this tanka placed first in the 2016 Mandy's Pages Annual Tanka Contest)

The Wombwell Rainbow, September 2022

My thanks to the curator, Paul Brookes, for selecting the following tanka art for the "Synergy" Photography feature:

(note: this tanka placed third in the 2020 San Francisco International Tanka Competition)

Artist's statement:

This photo was taken under a bridge on the frozen Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Every winter, there are art installations along the river skating trail. This one caught my attention because it reminded me of a gravestone, and of the time a crow shattered my window, losing its life in the process. The raven is symbolic in many cultures, and the tanka represents the way chronically ill people (myself included) often try to hide their infirmities ("pretending to be sky") to avoid making others feel uncomfortable.

The Wombwell Rainbow, June-July 2020

Thank you to curator, Paul Brookes!


June 23, 2020 - on the theme of wasps and bees

the argument
escalates all night
inside me
these paper-thin walls
only meant for wasps

Wild Voices, April 2017


I inhale
and my lungs fill up
with bees
though all hope is lost
there is still this hum

Hedgerow Poems 100, December 2016

June 24, 2020 - on the theme of ants

an ant
pushing the universe
up this hill
in a water droplet
I find my inner strength

Atlas Poetica 25, July 2016


a black river
of ants surges across
the pavement
they know their destination
long before I know mine

Honourable Mention, 2019 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards


June 25, 2020 - on the theme of beetles

the graffiti
of firefly stars at dusk
we follow
until our eyes adjust
to the narrative of night

Earth: Our Common Ground, April 2017

June 26, 2020 - on the theme of butterflies

in my garden
a gatekeeper butterfly
basks in the sun
I cover my pale body
only coming out at night

Cattails, September 2016


it was
as if she were
a butterfly
the way words flew
from her open hands

Cattails, April 2018


we once played
in this tangled garden,
enchanted
by the quiet fireworks
of bergamot and butterflies

Atlas Poetica 36, February 2019

Otata 36, December 2018

Incense Dreams 3.1, October 2019

June 27, 2020 - on the theme of moths

she is suspended

between here and gone

a cobweb

catching the light

of this moth-winged life

A Hundred Gourds 4.1, December 2014

a hammock

of tent caterpillars

sags with dew . . .

our differing opinions

on the nature of beauty

Atlas Poetica Special Feature, January 2018

bind my body

with spanworm silk

lay me down

in a shaded garden

until I turn to earth

Atlas Poetica Special Feature, August 2019

Failed Haiku Journal of Senryu Vol. 3, Issue 33, September 2019

June 28, 2020 - on the theme of flies and other sundry insects

dead houseflies

litter my windowsill

blindsided

not even compound eyes

see the way out of here

Undertow Tanka Review 7, September 2015

June 29, 2020 - on the theme of spiders

a spider web

strummed by soft breezes . . .

we can

almost hear the song

of morning dew

Ephemerae 1C, November 2018

July 4, 2020 - on the theme of meadows

the meadow

astir with blue skimmers

their wings

darning these placid days

into our histories

Ripples in the Sand, Tanka Society of America Membersߴ Anthology 2016

Frameless Sky 12, June 2020