Tanka

Alice Hewett andLeone.png

from baby babble
emerge three small words
ma, da, ta
building blocks
for a life of thankfulness

Julie Thorndyke

pinking shears
and euphemisms
my tidy mother
always able to neaten
the frayed edges of life

Julie Thorndyke

2014-06-28 11.11.05

a better place
could be further out
into the deep azure—
or it could be
inside my next breath

sorting out papers
instead of reordering
my thoughts—
the threads of story
faded and broken by time

have you not learned
tomorrow comes, regardless?
lie with me, my love
and dream
on this shared pillow

more fragrant
than spring flowers, the scent
of my lover’s arms—
lingering this morning
in a mist of autumn dreams

for a moment,
a snatch of song
I almost remember…
somewhere, in my memory
also the press of your skin

Julie Anne Thorndyke