Casted
How can a tiny
Bone in a tiny finger
Need such a big cast?
Or make me so damn sleepy?
A month in this dumb getup.
Category: narcissism
Daily Tanka: Surgical Center
Surgical Center
Reduction of the
Proximal phalange on the
Left hand’s fifth finger
Percutaneous pinning
What’s your name and date of birth?
Daily Tanka: Country Kids
Country Kids
Hearing the bats crack
After the ball flies away
I recall making
Plans with my friends by yelling
Across the marsh – country kids
Daily Tanka: New Bike Race
New Bike Race
Let’s race the new bike
Bang out a solid five laps
When my legs blow up,
Cruise the last lap, enjoying
The trees, the trail, and the bike
Daily Tanka: Lower Upper Midwest
Lower Upper Midwest
A cool, steady breeze
Betrays the high summer sun
Northfield, not da Yoop
A green lawn, not a stone beach
A corn sea, not the Big Lake
Daily Tanka: Aches and Pains
Aches and Pains
The physical pain
Of the day after the day
After a big race
Helps the body remember
It’s aliver than it was
Daily Tanka: Cheq Checklist
Cheq Checklist
Old school, flow, man-made
Off camber, bench cut, boardwalk
Bridge, jump, rock garden
Hairpin, buttonhook, sweeper
Logover, rockover, berm
Daily Tanka: TNG
TNG
Tuesday night gravel
Means facing the hot headwind,
Soaking up the views
Into the river valley,
Then riding tailwinds back home
Daily Tanka: Uncertain Terrain
Uncertain Terrain
A bicycle ride
Is a rite of oneness with
Certain terrain and
With uncertain terrain too.
There is value in the act.
(After John McPhee, The Survival of the Bark Canoe)
Daily Tanka: Procrastinating
Procrastinating
The simplest pleasure
Of procrastinating is
Putting off pleasures:
Finishing this book, drinking
That beer, going for a ride
Daily Tanka: Daily Tanka
Daily Tanka
I need many lines –
Ten, fifteen, even thirty –
Filled with dozens of
Words and syllables I hate
To write a five-line poem
Daily Tanka: Riotgrrravel
Riotgrrravel
A peak dad moment:
When girls’ grasp equals their reach
A 20-mile ride
Loose gravel, heat, hills, headwind
Soda, donuts, the finish.
Daily Tanka: The Get-Ahead
The Get Ahead
The get-ahead push
Before a three-day weekend
Requires a battle
Against this Thursday’s slacking
And the next Monday’s sucking
Daily Tanka: Workout Regrets
Workout Regrets
Suggesting to your
Trainer that you want to do
A favorite lift
Encourages him to cause
Some deep muscular regret
Daily Tanka: Tankastructions
Tankastructions
Use a pencil and
Lined paper but leave blank lines.
Write a bad first line.
Strike it. Write five better lines.
Count your syllables correctly.