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