Modern waka sequences

Spring Waka Sequence

The still pond
reflects only bare branches
as winter passes--
will soft blossoms appear
if only for a moment?

Paul

Emerging buds dot
The weeping crabapple
This Palm Sunday--
A stray snowflake takes the place
Of the branch's white bloom.

Donna

Mexican primrose
Fill the neighborhood lawns
This spring season--
The fragile petals are pink
That pop up during the night.

Sunny

A starling's beak
peaks out of overgrown grass--
it's a time to seek
when the sun illuminates
the true colors of new growth.

b'oki (Bette)

By my doorstep,
through the rain-softened earth;
the tips of sprouts
emerge in the clearing mist
glistening with morning dew.

Paul

Moonlight filters
Through the frosted window
Before a spring dawn;
Will your finger tips trace
The tree shadows on the sheet?

Donna

A fallen starling,
Broken feathered on new grass;
Hiding...
Dark against white daisies,
It shivers in the Spring sunrise.

Sunny

Under shadows
of lavender clouds,
memories linger--
lilac blossoms fill with rain
in a garden once yours.

b'oki

Is it the spring breeze
or the nightingale's soft song?
Beneath the full moon--
the purple iris trembles;
ripples spread across the pond.

Paul

A heavy spring dew
wetting the cactus blossoms
in this high-desert--
red skies at night make me yearn
for sea level sunrises.

an'ya

Soft light
Engulfs this beloved old house
In the morning--
My cheerful Spring heart, too,
Is completely consumed.

Sunny

From these old hands
Lettuce seed blows away
Engulfed by the wind--
A sparrow clings to the edge
Of the swinging birdfeeder.

Donna

Amongst maple buds
a yellow goldfinch drops by;
a visit too short--
he glances my way and leaves me
clinging to his beauty.

b'oki

A cone of sunlight
disappears way down deep
into the woodpile--
the chipmunk and her babies
with this roof over their heads.

an'ya

Across the roof tiles,
breaking the dawn's silence
the sound of squirrels--
as they scurry to and fro
collecting fallen twigs.

Paul

Amid swirling twigs,
The mallard rights himself
In the muddy current--
Only strong eddies appear
Between the river boulders.

Donna

After the storm,
the furious brown flow calms--
clear water,
it glistens with refractions
of green moss, pebbles, and sand.

Nick

In-between branches
the loftiest ornament
a crescent moon;
suspended throughout this night--
flashes of stars in spring wind.

an'ya

Withered by winter,
branches gnarled with passing time;
the ancient cherry
issues forth tender blossoms
that glisten in the spring rain.

Paul

Old weeping willow
now full enough to touch
a pond reflection--
the new shadow casting,
fills with hungry, young sunfish.

b'oki