This week I got to see my first tanka in a print publication, the journal of the British Haiku Society, Blithe Spirit. The tanka was part of my first submission to this journal so I was absolutely delighted. I joined the BHS a few days before the submission deadline, not realising there was still time to submit, so it really was a sneaking in at the last minute type of submission. This particular tanka was written whilst I was sitting on my patio. This year I have pretty much given up weeding to allow my garden to determine what it needs (though the brambles, many plum tree saplings and nettles have to be managed otherwise that’s all there would be). There is something about the way that ‘nature’ reclaims its space, when given a chance, that is reassuring. When I look at the patio now, I see a living world of its own. So many things could be enriched if we let the cracks disappear.
The tanka:
I let cracks
disappear
under lemon balm
moss
and forget-me-nots
And Then There Were Stories 