Bare trees rising high.
Where did all those white clouds go?
Deep blue fills the sky.
Red lips, how their smiles flow.
Blue eyes sparkling, brighten so.
Text: I’m using a modified form that William N. Porter used in his translation of Japanese tanka into English, “A Hundred Verses from Old Japan“. This is part of my study of the Manyoshu, finding English forms similar to the tanka.
Photo: “Sun, Tree and Blue Sky”, above, and “Trees and Blue Sky”, below, by the author and linked to K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge and Trablogger’s Mundane Monday.
News: The National Federation of State Poetry Societies in the United States (of which I’m a member through the Illinois State Poetry Society) announced its 2018 contests. There are fifty contests in all. Entries must be postmarked between January 1, 2018, and March 15, 2018. Some of the winners may be published in an anthology later in 2018. Check the details if you are interested in participating.
Also, yesterday Ancient Paths Literary Magazine published my poem “Advent Darkness“.
Poetry, Short Prose and Walking 