Tanka ~ John W. Sexton

its shadow beautiful
on the submerged floor
of the sink
I hesitate to rescue
the drowning moth

woodland road
tree shadows
wipe the windshield
the crossing forks
into light

sudsy towels
turn in the machine
a March squall
rinses
the trees

autumn light
I doze in the chair
wings sprout from my ears
take me through the chimney
to migrating birds

picking
wind-fallen
apples
I leave their shapes
in grass

John W. Sexton lives in Ireland. His haiku and haibun have appeared in Ginyu, Modern Haiku, Simply Haiku, The 58th Basho Festival Haiku Anthology, The Illustrated Ape and also in translation in the Irish language publications Feasta and Lá.

His first collection of haiku, Shadows Bloom / Scáthanna Faoi Bhláth, with translations into Irish by Gabriel Rosenstock, was recently published by Doghouse. His children’s novels The Johnny Coffin Diaries and Johnny Coffin School-Dazed are published by The O’Brien Press.

Copyright 2005: Simply Haiku