Southwest Washington Tanka

 Kayla Wildman

the burnt railroad bridge
its ragged posts
slanting this way and that
a blue heron, shoulders hunched,
reflected in the quiet creek

* * *

little by little
leaf by leaf
spring is hiding
the stone-edged pool
in this small wood

* * *

oblivious
to the beauty
of daisies
the man with his mower
the shepherd with her sheep

* * *

a raggedy row
of old wooden posts
blocking a channel
in the river
the waterbirds vote yes

* * *

so gradually
the wild plum’s pink petals
drop
to float on the black water
of the shady wood’s pool

* * *

the old stone lion
stands proudly on his pedestal
on his majestic mane
and his fierce face
green moss growing

* * *

this way and that way
the butterfly–
how free, how simple
a life with no desire
beyond the next flower

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