Friday 21 June 2024

Five Tanka and Ten Haiku by Ruth Holzer

 



Five Tanka and Ten Haiku


wearied 

you left me and turned into

a butterfly

I became another one

to pursue you through the air



supper

a hard dry roll

at Woolworth's

butter was extra

pennies for the beggar



room to room

and country to country 

restless

whatever I was looking for

always left behind



more of the same

more and more

of the same

and then a shedload

of what next



snow-crowned

eternal mountain

heart of fire

through heat and cold I reach

the summit in a dream



bamboo the character bends to the wind



winter sunset

the sparrows have had their day

and I mine



seeing Jupiter up close the moon rabbit and I



shining down

on this foreign city too

the evening star



patch of rhubarb

tangled in its roots

a cache of Celtic coins



on the path to the castle a fine mist



pale day moon floating on a wisp of cloud



infinite highway

soothing the sorrow

between near and far



the long shadows of late evening remembering friends



falling asleep 

to the solitary sax

stolen moments





Ruth Holzer's short form and longer poems have been widely published. She is the author of eight chapbooks, most recently “Home and Away” (dancing girl press), “Living in Laconia” (Gyroscope Press) and “Among the Missing (Kelsay Books). Her work has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart. Originally from New Jersey, she now lives in Virginia.

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