4 more poems from Cleremont: A Childhood In Tanka

merlin                                   

stars shimmering on

his purple robe

I love the runic picture

in that antique book

          Published in Undertow Tanka Review

kids don’t care                      

five steps ahead of me

on bikes

roller skates double dutch

I crash and skin my knees

           Published in Bright Stars #5

Victor Polumbo                         

hides matches in his shoes

braggs about burning

a whole vacant lot

he haunts my dreams

           Published in Bright Stars #5

I run wild                                 

in the cemetery

playing

with my ghost friends

mother calls me “morbid”

              Published in Bright Stars #7

Some Haiku

Some haiku for International Haiku Poetry Day

my hands
scented with oregano
church bells

                 Frog Pond Winter 2013

glass clouds floating in
the heron blue skyscraper
stands on one leg
                  Lexington Haiku Contest - Second Prize

from "Cleremont: A Childhood in Tanka" - published in "Bright Stars" #4

before we                             

knew what sin was

we stole

a bunch of marigolds

sold them on the street

nose pressed                    

into purple irises

tall as I

inhaling sweetness

among the angry bees

Cleremont - pages 6-8 - published in Undertow Tanka Review #5

6

scratchy -  the warp               

of that rose covered rug

on my knees

watching my child reflection

dark in the glass door

7

one night                                   

I am three years old

a magic carpet

sweeps me from my crib

carries me on dark journeys

8

I sit cross legged                       

on that little carpet

flying around

the midnight house

Queen of Shadows

From Cleremont, A Memoir in Tanka - 5 tanka published in Undertow: Winter 2015 and Bright Stars #7

Cleremont

1

psychedelic deep                     

memories of childhood

dream shrouded

startled by huge dark wings

pen dipped in black ink

2

white box houses

row on row of square blocks

street after street

chalk on the sidewalks

kids walk to school

3

Cleremont Avenue                 

where nothing ever happens

under maple trees

my father plants roses

because he loves red

4

Cleremont Avenue                    

enveloped in a tree cloud 

wrapped in tacky boredom

one house like a castle

across the concrete street 

5

we play in the attic             

of the gingerbread castle

hiding in closets

never knowing where

the crooked man lurks