Six Tanka Poems by Jackie Chou

 

Six Tanka Poems

cards we're dealt 

the evil clown keeps

showing up

though we took it

out of the deck

     

her tongue
of cherry popsicle
spitting fire
my mother became
the dragon lady

 

 

parched lips

under the scorching 

afternoon sun

I slip into an ocean

of strawberry lemonade

a raven cries 

that the woman in black

is not coming back

not through these doors

nor these corridors

pebbles...

a beautiful prompt 

for a poem

until one is thrown

or trips somebody

   

 

so many ways

to say "you're dumb"

my friend and I 

ditch the bimbo cliché 

for a thesaurus

 

Jackie Chou is a poet of Japanese short-form poetry and free verses from Southern California. Her two collections of poems Finding My Heart in Love and Loss and The Sorceress can be purchased on Amazon. Besides writing, she loves to watch Jeopardy and talent competitions on TV.