Simply Haiku: An E-Journal

Simply Haiku: An E-Journal of Haiku and Related Forms
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Tanka by Francine Porad

should I paint,
should I write
in the dream
I stride a sunlit street
wearing one black shoe, one white

1995 Poet's Market, Close-up Interview

we crowd together
under the canopy
at the gravesite
a sudden storm
of golden leaves

hand on my shoulder
he reaches out
to comfort me . . .
the white violet’s
second blooming

at the mall
windows and I sparkle
a proposition
for the guy with the mop,
squeegee and wiper

a net of vines
curls around the Douglas fir
grandson Taylor
grins as he sidesteps
my smothering kisses

Francine Porad lives, writes and paints in the Seattle area. Former President of the Haiku Society of America and eight year editor of BRUSSELS SPROUT, she has juried international haiku, senryu and tanka competitions. Porad's poems are currently in haiku journals and on numerous poetry websites.
Credits include The Tanka Anthology, Michael McClintock, 2003; The Patchwork Quilt Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, Renku, Artwork (HSA Merit Book Award 1994) Vandina Press, Mercer Island, 1993 ; Round Renga Round, Jane Reichhold, Editor, AHA Press, Gualala, 1990. (Ten poets: Aikins, Dickson, Partridge, Porad, Jane &Werner Reichhold, Sato, Spriggs, Vance, Williams) ; Wind Five Folded, Jane Reichhold, Editor, AHA Press 1994; Mainichi Yearly Haiku Contest, Japan, HM 1999; Poetry Society of Japan’s International Tanka Contest 1st Prize 1993; HWUP Awards Grand Prize Tanka 1st and Grand Prize Haiku 1st, Sept 1992; Tanka 1st, June 1993; Haiku 1st, Oct 1993; Tanka HM, June 1995; Tanka Grand Prize 2 HM 1995; Tanka Splendor International Contest 1996, 1993, 1992, 1991 (3 included).