Tanka ( poem): by Roy Lindquist

Painting: Dan Sekikawa, Tokyo 2009

From dust to dust:

leaf's change
red - yellow -brown
northern wind whisper
end of time
sleep my friend

death leaf
cover the ground
child playfully fly his kit
autumn blue sky
continuity

don't cry
death leaf
once a playful soul
life accomplished
earth still young

molecule dance
in orbit sky
never ending glory
from dust to dust
don't be sorry

Mothers last song: Tanka by Roy Lindquist

postludium
page turned back
memories
joy and pain
once a child
dancing marry-go-round

mountain hidden
fog so thick
eye stare - vain fore glimpse
mothers smile
searching fore plum blossom

autumns leaf's
tree nearly bare
hiding footsteps of the child
who once
was there

stradivarius
switched on memories
flash of a forgotten smile
heart taken pain
teardrop in wrinkled hand

mothers grave
moss covered stone
suzumushi ring the bell
call fore memento
old love lies deep

 

 

My Mother Ruth died 1963

 

Suzumushi Haiku: by Roy Lindquist

little cricket
sweet a sound
ring his bell

distant shore
waiting patiently
friend so dear

restless night
empty cage
Suzumushi lullaby

Tanka ( poem): by Roy Lindquist

Butterfly in winterland:


joyfull child
across the field
catching butterfly in here hands
memories vague
Okinawa long gone

last path
sunshine gracefully ride
on mountain top
last remains
in a white box

silent walk
to resting place
winter land far away
Okinawa long gone
forgotten child

Butterfly in winter land
carried in my hand
last path
in deep silence

white chrysanthemum

Today I carried the ash of a women from Okinawa to here grave in Norway at a funeral. I feelt deep sorrow and thought of here childhood back in Japan. Given the honor to carry it the last footsteep down to the restingplace beside here son who drowned sixteen years ago...
Lonesome, but not forgotten - she was a Butterfly in winterland

Tanka ( poem): by Roy Lindquist

Photo by Tom Haarman

crows chase
eagle in laud coarse
rainclouds hang dark
above the hut
poet rise his head wondering

borne in winter month
life affected by darkness
death always
cast shadow
on writers mind

crowded graveyard
still waiting
for the sun to shine
crows gathered
waiting for poets hand to rest

This is my first attempt to write Tanak.
I know the poem is a bit depressing, but
this is something that is always hanging
over my head as a shadow....
Its written after a real episode yesterday.

Why care: Haiku by Roy Lindquist

little blossom
in the shadow
big trees
*
written words
disappeared into space
no readers
*
tree grow
no taller than its
fertilized

Que Vadis: Haiku by Roy Lindquist

Photo: Howard Garrett DirtDoctor.com

emerald beetle
crossing busy road
hurry friend

strong armour
become rusty
life waste away

water drops
disappear in my palm
nothing everlasting

serenade song
whisper through rain
Que Vadis