The Psyche Love Poetry Series: Series 3-4: Tanka 21 - 30
21. m. l. harvey, 2009-Jun-14:
a high meadow
caressed by cloud shadow
some things,
without me,
find joy in your absence
22. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Jun-16
Draped in the June warmth,
she feels the rose-scented wind
stroke her dewy skin.
The clouds drift by, one by one,
as if in admiration.
23. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Oct-17
Now, I think of her:
that golden hair, such elegance . . .
yet when youth touched me,
she was a but an idea
in the mind of God.
24. Cecelia Quentin-Webb, 2009-Oct-19
Unrelenting,
the wind against the panes,
and the driven rain
sound against my inner silence:
yet once love held back the dawn.
25. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Oct-23
Summer night dreams —
where was the "I" of you
before you were?
The eons of time pass, immortal;
then endless runs of love?
26. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Oct-27
Rub that sunscreen
on me with your magic hands
as long as you wish:
that is my secret reason
for coming to the beach.
27. Cecelia Quentin-Webb, 2009-Oct-28
Before the mirror
I silver comb the hair he loves,
my long black tresses . . .
. . . Oh hold back the years, that time
when comb and hair shall match.
28. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Oct-28
Her white shoulders
more fragrant than the blossoming plum . . .
her mirror'd eyes say yes . . .
Softly, softly my fingers
as our flush of love awakens.
29. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Oct-29
A silk scarf
covers her bare shoulders —
the wind snatches it.
I whisper "thank you, thank you
for letting me admire them."
30. Cecelia Quentin-Webb, 2009-Oct-30
Fragment of time —
As we pass, his stranger’s eyes meet mine,
the “now” forever gone . . .
if he should not stop and turn . . .
our brief chance of love will pass.
31. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Oct-31
A bumblebee checks
a sweetly-fragrant rosebud,
yet half-opened.
Be patient: come back again
when the bloom is full.
32. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Nov-01
The climbing rose,
having reached the window ledge
peeps in . . .
What delights, these deep kisses
and lissome limb dalliance!
33. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Nov-01
Like my perfume?
Come closer, find the scented spots —
which may lead you
to yet new discoveries
of delight... enough for two.
34. Cecelia Quentin-Webb, 2009-Nov-03
Alone with my thoughts,
I see the lingering moon . . .
Oh sweet moon,
now you are my companion,
our thoughts of love unsaid!
[As I composed this tanka, I thought of a Secret Garden. -Cecelia]
35. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Nov-06
I hear her footsteps,
the rhythm of her silken dress;
these sounds of memory:
Yet in that first flush of love
how we longed for endless days.
36. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Nov-07
My yard, neglected —
the flowers fight with weeds,
losing the battle...
yet I expend my energy
on the hope of your return.
37. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Nov-09
New spring willows —
how easily these reflections
are distorted by the running stream . . .
is Love forever thus,
the real masked by perception?
38. Cecelia Quentin-Webb, 2009-Nov-10
The tea flowers in bloom —
Alone I walk the Temple path
where once we paused,
our hands clasp’d in youthful innocence,
passion yet to rule our hearts.
39. Zhanna P. Rader, 2009-Nov-10
As he dozes
in the shade of a willow,
the wind and I
brush his hair the opposite ways —
just for the pleasure of it.
40. Hugh Bygott, 2009-Nov-12
The first Spring winds
gently thread through weeping willows
searching, searching . . .
As I sit in day-dreams, I search too . . .
dreaming of my unknown lover . . .
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