Easter parade -
at just the wrong moment
the heavens open

even here
at the heart of a camellia
finding shadows

flowering cherry -
no one seems to notice me
slip into that world
.

will you forget me
if I don't return?
spring blossoms

first daffodils -
my wife announces
it's time for change
.

I can see it
deep in your face
this illness
its shadow falls long
on this cold spring day

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

spring dawn -
dropping a stone
in the lake
it ripples
right through me

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

spring rain -
the dark edge of a cloud
shapes the sky

Tan Renga


years since you left
still the plum blossoms
come and go
finally my regretful heart
opens to receive


Paul Smith and Pamela A. Babusci
Mar. 6, 2009

Tan Renga

i am like
a wild violet
you cannot tame
a surging tide sweeping
wide across the bay


Pamela A. Babusci
& Paul Smith
3/4/09

Tan Renga

Having met through the Spring Haiku 09 Blog last week, Pamela and I have begun working collaboratively. We have written two Tanka Sequences and are currently writing Tan Renga. We humbly offer the poem below and hope that it will speak to you on some level.

at the altar
I offer snowdrops
and a prayer
this springtime rift
too much to endure


Paul Smith & Pamela A. Babusci March 4th 2009

downstream
a handful of blossoms
and a promise

spring rain -
blossoms in the puddle
fill the sky

like spring
I know now
that understanding you
is a season also
that will change

Modern English Tanka V2 No1 Autumn 2007

your voice
a quiet whisper
and once again
the whole world
is spring

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

early spring -
camellia buds
full of promise