Civilized Nature
#5 of Lyric Poetry
Tanka Sequence...
Tanka No. 1 (Spring)
myriad birds perching
in radiant hues celestial --
whistling in the leaves
the melancholic music
of the old depressed flautist
Tanka No. 2 (Summer)
burrowing hornets
emerge in heated morning --
the shedding of tears
from humankind to nature's
constantly warring factions
Tanka No. 3 (Autumn)
the loosening leaves
in an evening force of gust --
beneath the full moon
darkening chills overcome
the wanderer in the woods
Tanka No. 4 (Winter)
once frost-bitten wings
on lethal birds of the skies --
becoming carrion
in the silence of their peace
ravaged by hunger and plight