Pink Dolphins and Parallel Moons

My husband took the photo of me in the land of my dreams, India, 2015. It’s out of focus, thus creating a dreamy image.
I changed the title of the Tanka Series.
I changed the title of this series....Having trouble with a title. If you have any suggestions for a title--please help.)

In my dream,
a firefly lights my way
hummingbirds
drip honey, ocean waves
rise in sync with my breath

the Amazon's 
pink dolphins mate with virgins
another Mary is born
our world turns upside down
as the moon floats far away

a parallel moon
with an umbilical cord,
connects us
to another system
transforms us into "annica"

we digest air
no need to eat, poop and waste
we are here
for the moment
and the moment is here

blink your eye
and you are there
shut your eyes
to see where you are
blink, close, behold and open

before I fell asleep
mother sang me fairy tales
of a world full of magic
that's why
I believe in god
Oct. 5, 2019
(Originally published in Rafu Shimpo an International Japanese Newspaper)

Counting my Breath

Photo: Genie Nakano, Iceland, 2017
Counting my Breath

what can you say
about the sun, moon, stars
while sky 
holds them up
do they have a choice

looking out my window
figures walk their dogs
some run some trot
some stop to smell the roses
I planted on the curb

I watch them sniff
then off they go
please spread
their sweetness everywhere
and come back again

I'm waiting
for my transformation when
I love
everyone and everything--
"all sentient beings"

tomorrow will come
in less than 24 hours
the sun will shine
the moon will rise
sky has no judgements

perhaps 
a critical mass is due
but let's leave
the people out 
of this equation

patience
is the antidote
to anger
I'm counting my breath
as I turn blue
April 23, 2019
Originally published in Rafu Shimpo Japanese Newspaper

Bodhisattva

Photo: Genie Nakano, “Bodhi”
At night
our little black dog
snuggles between us
lies on his back
and snores loudly

snip, brush, snip
around his furry face
Bodhi loves it all
tilts his head way back
crooning to the moon

Bodhisattva
means, Buddha in training...'
they say all good dogs
go to heaven
I hope to meet him there
Originally published in "Colorful Lives", 2016

Akiko Yosano #2

Akiko Yosano, 1847- 1948, Japanese feminist tanka poet.
Akiko is my favorite tanka poet. Her tanka were bold, sensuous and controversial. Here is my tanka in honor of Akiko and below it are examples of her tanka from the book "Tangled Hair." They were chosen randomly. The book is excellent and has 165 of her tanka, notes and her biography.

Akiko 
wrote 50 tanka a day
I wonder
if she smoked 
and drank red wine

26
Softly I pushed open
That door
We call a mystery,
These full breasts
Held in both my hands

32
After my bath
At the hot spring,
These clothes
As rough to my skin
As the world

46
In love
And frail as the stem
Of this summer flower--
Yet will I bloom
Deep red under a dazzling sun!

107
Inside the coffin
Of my beautiful
Friend,
The flowers
A riot of colors
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