The Start Of My Tanka Journey

These were my first two published tanka, appearing in Valley Micropress Vol.13 Iss.3 (April, 2010). They were written after Owen Bullock did a tanka talk at the Christmas do of the then Papamoa Poets group. The subject matter is very Kiwi summer.
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after the gypsy fair

seeing summer

in a flowering pōhutukawa

the smell of snow

drifts into my mind

Pōhutukawa tree, affectionaly known as New Zealand's
Christmas tree. Photo by Kirsten Cliff, Papamoa Beach.

plaza Christmas tree

decorated with starfish

and jandals

I automatically look

for a pair my size

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