The Road
The road was really
A trail for logging machines
Dad picks his way through
Mud, water, rocks, windfall trees
Deeper into the forest
Category: tanka
Daily Tanka: The Route Out
The Route Out
The rough camp road starts
Just before Aunt Mayme’s house
After the curve where
Grandpa had his wreck, after
Selma’s farm, the bar, the church
Daily Tanka: Preparation
Preparation
First, load the Scout
With hot dogs and buns, pancake
Mix, milk, and bacon
Did we ever bring any
Fresh fruit or vegetables?
Daily Tanka: The Hunting Camp
The Hunting Camp
Is our hunting camp
Still standing in the real woods?
Head toward the Big Lake
Then bump east down the fireroad
To the clearing on Mud Creek
Daily Tanka: Squirrel
Squirrel
Squashed, the gray squirrel
Reaches toward the fresh acorns
That drew him down to
The wide, ugly street, and then
Under some dumb, ruthless car
Daily Tanka: Loopy
Loopy
Hot laps in the heat
Puffball mushroom or big skull?
Curved stump or vulture?
Crickets or a biker?
I might be dehydrated
Daily Tanka: Night Sounds
Night Sounds
The night weather turned
From a picknicky corn smell
Lit by fireflies' flares
To an earthy fog muffling
The tireless crickets' lovesongs
Daily Tanka: Outing
Outing
A walk in the woods
Then beers, a game, and pizza
At the brewery
With the girls: a pretty good
Summer afternoon outing
Daily Tanka: Wasted Weather
Wasted Weather
Next summer, I won’t
Get a new bike right before
I break a finger
And have to waste perfect days
Of sun and heat and blue skies
Daily Tanka: Casted
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.
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: Lorde
Lorde
Lorde’s “Melodrama”
Is a riveting album
In my head I hear
The music’s many strange sounds
Almost more than the lyrics
Daily Tanka: Birdbath
Birdbath
Entropy afflicts
Our birdbath, which attracts filth
Arboreal and
Avian but is cleaned out
By a summer thunderstorm
Daily Tanka: Liberal Arts Sounds
Liberal Arts Sounds
Backhoes groan, scraping
Songbirds whistle, flickering
Crows shriek, circling
Locomotives blast, blocking
Work trucks beep, esrevering
Daily Tanka: Plein Air
Plein Air
A hole in the clouds
Lets dusklight paint the cornfield
A tassle yellow
The hole closes and the field
Turns back to a husky green