Bayonet scrape marks –
Traces of young bored sentries ~
Local Girls distract.
Their Queen, many years later –
Speaking Irish, amongst friends.
Dublin Castle
Tag: Tanka
#365/365
We are all alone –
That’s fine because we all are ~
So we’re really not.
–
Watching my just fed sparrows –
A moment of reflection.
Thanks to all who visited, voted, liked and commented in 2021. Best wishes for 2022.
#80/365
Young birds out training –
Under a fingernail moon ~
Flying sideways eights.
Gaze up at infinity –
The cat, distracted by grass.
#65/365
Snails in old plastic –
My Grandma would have killed them ~
I don’t have the heart.
New plastic bottle snail home –
She’s smiling, shaking her head.
The Bird
Magnolia blooms –
My Mother’s garden renews ~
‘Sure that soil is spent’
Her mother famously said –
She was gloriously wrong.
Mount Vernon
Rusticated walls –
Wood posing as stone, falseness ~
Most unlike the man.
The farm, the garden in bloom ~
Here he is, feeding the world.
Influence
You taught violin –
Shafts of light in the school day ~
Sister among boys –
I think we were your children –
and I want to thank you now.
Rewards
Post flight, wait for bags –
The carousel, they arrive ~
Old nun, beside him.
He stays to help her with hers –
Why do we do that? Strange beasts.
Ranelagh
Trudging Oakley Road –
Heavy bags cutting fingers ~
Recalls student days.
Housewarming a friend’s new home ~
Much the same, much also changed.
Snipe
Once, we were hunting –
Two taken down ~ second lost –
Lost in the bracken.
It was down, deserved honour –
Boy, driven mad seeking it.
duncancleary 