I started the week with a blog about my admiration for Nikki Grimes verse novel, Garvey in the Dark, which she wrote entirely in tanka, an ancient Japanese poetry form. Now, I’m no Nikki Grimes, but I decided to have my own turn with a tanka. It’s kind of like a kid who watches Eli Manning throw the long football touchdown pass for the Giants on Sunday afternoon and then goes out in the backyard to practice passing with his brother. I put my 5-7-5-7-7 pattern next to the computer and pulled a topic I had already planned. It was fun. I hope you will enjoy it, too.
Horse Tanka
Every day he stands,
rubbing a corner spot dry,
looking longingly
across the fence, ignoring
the full expansive pasture.
Daily, I ponder
the horse, my mailbox across
from his meadow, packed
with lush grass growing behind.
I remember the adage,
“The grass is always
greener on the other side.”
Why stand in one small
corner, snubbing grassy snacks
and wide space for cavorting?
I’m judgmental as
the horse wastes open grassland.
I would never miss
such an opportunity
to lollygag by a fence.
Two grandsons bring a
fresh reconsideration.
Mama stops at the
fence corner, after school and
taekwondo. They pet the horse.
They call him “Honey,”
noting that he and Owen
share a mane color.
He stretches his neck to them,
making his head reachable.
Perhaps Honey at
the fence corner covets more
than greener grass. He
maybe waits for Benjamin’s
nose rub or Owen’s nuzzle.
My daily mailbox
musing makes a u-turn now.
I grasp Honey’s wait.
I, too, enjoy their greeting –
after school and taekwondo.