Tanka poems

TANKA

a few twinkling stars

on a clear autumn night sky

calendar sheets and leaves fall

seven big yellow pumpkins

make season change joyful

last harvest of fruits

country in slowdown mode

blanket of hoar frost 

vintners fill barrels and crates

provision for winter months

early sunset

puts blanket over green fields

full moon silvering the Reeks

last summer day makes heart heavy

we bewail lost time and warmth

leaves knock at window

storm rattles at barn gates

let’s prepare for storm and snow

farmer is counting his bales

the warm steam from his cow’s mouth

haunted house for me

a mystery in the field

black crows cry from far

time fragments cling to the walls

to witness gone time and lives

plenty blackberries,

laughing fruits burst with ripeness

walking past hedges

I harvest with both hands;

autumn provides abundance

grey dragon clouds

sky riders on white horses

storm wind tosses trees

blow dead leaves across the street

announcing early autumn

contents of kettles

brewing, maturing and fermenting

mash and malt, yeast, hops

bubbling, gurgling and boiling

beer, a foaming delight

a black stroke or stain

on an old valuable painting

romantic landscape

harms my old sad heart

deducting more years

gorse in January

mocks the winter

with its blossoms

I study the weather forecast

in fearful expectation

early train to Cork

waiting room full of people

no salute returned

all glued to their mobiles

autistic society

success attracts flies

rubbing shoulders with laureates

to get a bit of the shine

looking down on small fries

from a distance

bittern motionless

becomes one with the dense reed

withdrawn from the view

lake mirror untouched,

shows only the wide sky