Carolyn Thomas
 

the face
on the Buddha candle
so serene
i can't bear
to light the wick

that calm knowing
in the old widow's eyes
still haunts me . . .
the mourning dove
repeats its call

thought
having run
its course
i give myself over
to the summer night rain

maybe when i die
it will be autumn
with nothing left
for the changing leaves to do
but fall

what joy!
when action reflects
the real me
like wet sand mirrors
this motionless gull

Carolyn Thomas began writing tanka as a haiku poet. Her collection, puddle on the ink stone: haiku and other short poems, received the HSA 2004 Merit Book Award. She is a member of the Tanka Society of America and Tanka Canada.

Copyright 2007: Simply Haiku