Tanka 240, 241, 242

From the collection The Immediate and No Sooner, published in 2021.

Tanka 240
Too upset to drive.
Forgot she even knew how.
Misunderstandings.
A drama hardened. She sat
in the back seat and she cried.
12/14/20

Tanka 241
the neighbors laughing
the broom scraping on concrete
the screen door slamming
the rusty melody of
bringing in the garbage cans
12/14/20

Tanka 242
The billfold offers
temptation I don’t resist.
Kidnap dollar bills.
Leave it mortified empty.
It should have kept its mouth shut.
12/15/20

2 thoughts on “Tanka 240, 241, 242

  1. The personification in that final poem is excellent. I also enjoy the insistence of passivity of the narrator and the aggressive victim blaming. The middle poem is a great capture of those everyday neighbourhood sounds and the first poem is achingly sad.

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