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Michael Dylan Welch
the year at an end--
for all I know
the man in the moon
is lonely
too
fresh rain
dampens our tent--
you sleep on
unaware of the weather
in my heart
this empty beach
where we skipped together
so lightly
now snags my heels
with its endless shifting sand
an ice cube in the sink
moves to the drain
on its own melting--
it has been too long
since we last made love
sandalwood candle
starting to melt--
with your little finger
you touch some cheesecake
from your lower lip
we talk of investments
on our late-night walk--
my brother-in-law's
strip mall
my two young children
wobbly bicycle tracks--
melted ice cream
wets the pavement
here and there
along the pier
my kids now inspire
many poems,
to the point of sentimentality--
I long for adult distractions,
for the point of a kiss
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the publications where some of these poems were first published.
"an ice cube in the sink", To Find the Moon, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2004
"this empty beach", Lynx XI, February 1996
"fresh rain", Tanka Splendor Award, 2007
Michael Dylan Welch is currently regional coordinator of the Haiku Northwest group, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2008. His haiku, tanka, and longer poetry have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies in more than a dozen languages, and have won or placed in numerous contests. He founded the Tanka Society of America, and served as its first president from 2000 to 2004. Michael has been publishing his tanka for at least 15 years. In 2008, Writer's Digest Books published an essay of his in The Craft & Business of Writing, and he has a featured interview in the 2009 edition of Poet's Market.
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