Carpe Diem Special – Waka – August 31, 2015

Birthday

just another day
so like every other day
this miracle – life
funny to think you weren’t
and then suddenly you were

[a world without you]
it’s hard to imagine days
before you were born

a tiny web
grows daily on the tree of life
anchored by fine threads
glistening gossamer lines
fragile – easily broken

§§§§§§

Ah – hello my bouncing boy
at last you’ve joined the party
may bright sunshine warm your days
and love be your home

© G.s.k. ‘15

Lolly’s inspirational tanka is about a life passing – my waka are about life becoming – the cycle of life is so mysterious if one thinks about it.

One moment the world is turning and someone isn’t a part of it and then it’s like they’d always existed.  At the moment of passing – the world goes on as though that person never was. Fragile spider’s webs indeed.

August is the month when two of my son’s came into the world – and though they’re now grown and far away, a fragile thread remains, reminding me of the day they became a part of life, so many years ago.

from where did you come –
where will you finally go
when winter winds blow

© G.s.k. ‘15

§§§§§§§§

Lolly wrote:

[…] “This tanka was inspired by a Carpe Diem prompt “spider web.” I like its dark, gothic mood and the alliteration in the last two lines. It definitely suggests death and grief as we all have to go through a loved one’s personal items when they pass. I remember doing so for my mother-in-law as well as my mother and both grandmothers. The last two lines really bring the thought home. After the death of a parent it seems one’s “anchor”  or security or a part of what made us feel secure is loosened or even gone.

It’s a sad tanka, but I love for it because it expresses what I often feel when I think of all the women in my family that have passed away” […]

sifting through
the personal effects
of a spider’s web
an autumn wind loosens
another anchor thread

© Laura Williams (a.k.a. Lolly)
published: American Tanka; Issue #13

Written for:

Carpe Diem Special #164 Lolly’s 6th “another anchor thread”