Haiku
vine-covered silo
red trumpets
sequined with dew
spring approaching
the golden willow
wears a cloak of snow
tall grass
cricket song ebbs and flows
with the breezes
Tanka
deep
autumn
red and gold leaves
swirl about the forest—
a gypsy dance
fiddle and mandola
cedar waxwings
swoop overhead
how beautiful I think
until I hear them screeching
in the mulberry trees
Free Verse
Fairy Tales
Aunt
Ella had a big book of fairy tales
with bright-colored pictures.
When Violet visited her, she begged
her to read story after story.
At last, she taught Violet to read,
beginning with once upon a time.
Soon Violet could read all the words
in the magical book. In fact,
she knew most of the stories by heart.
One of her favorites was the princess
and the wild swans, all her stillborn
brothers. She even had a notion
of making nettle shirts, but a handful
of stinging nettles brought her
back to pretend. She inhabited
a rosy world of my own making,
fairy tales the only disasters she knew.
