TANKA............
Andrew Riutta, US

 

tonight
having nothing on my mind
I prepare a modest spot
for the wind to enter
for the leaves to gather

each day
more of me dissolves
into
this pasture held together
by a thousand blackbirds

how quickly
a lifetime of adventures
narrows to
a can of pork-n-beans
and the hum of the furnace


each of us
must carry this old bucket
that spills the darkness
with every step we take
toward some brighter day

 

 

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