Tanka
the jellyfish
not quite invisible
along the beach
you tell me a story
I’ve never heard
rain clouds
rush to cross the sky
I imagine the wind
in the stratosphere
myself with-in the wind
still not
ready
to apologize,
to hear you—
first drop of rain
on the windshield
by the
pool
questions i never asked
about you
our unfriending
second night
on the couch
waking, i find you
on the couch
beside me
About
Natalie Perfetti, US
Natalie
Perfetti grew up in the small town of Lowell,
Indiana, where she first learned to love reading and
writing. She graduated in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in
writing and literature from Millikin University. Natalie now
attends Florida State University in Tallahassee where she
pursues her master's degree in literature. When not immersed
in a book or a poem, Natalie loves to swim, bike, and travel
Her tanka have
appeared in a number of magazines, including the Tanka
Society of America journa, Ribbons and
Dirty Napkin, and Moonbathing, and
Modern English Tanka.
Perfetti wrote
Moon's Edge as part of her James Millikin
Scholarship project, "At the Edges of Traditions: Poems of
Our Own," which won the Outstanding Project Award for 2009.
Moon's
Edge, by Natalie Perfetti, illustrated by Laramie
Hutchens. (Decatur, IL.:
Bronze Man Books,
2008). 38 pages, 9 x 6, saddlestitched. ISBN
978-0-9787441-0-6. $12.00 and $2.50 postage from the
publisher at or by mail from: Bronze Man Books,
Millikin University, 1184 W. Main, Decatur, IL 62522.
http://www.bronzemanbooks.com/chapbooks/MoonsEdge/NataliePerfetti.html
