Spring tanka challenge

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/14/10
The window downstairs
Rattles in protest about
A stiff ocean breeze.
Despite late afternoon sunshine
More spring storms lurk off the coast.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/15/10 (in a more modern vein than usual)

The windows vibrate,
The very walls seem to shudder
At this rude onslaught.
Apocalyptic horsemen?
No, some jerk in a boom car.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/16/10

Still so white and soft,
But here and there, one sees signs:
Worn spots and even a hole.
What lover would trade for such
A poor, shabby kosode?

(Looks like someone really needs to catch up with her mending!)

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/17/10

Pine boughs gently shade
The women with their hand work
As fighters compete.
The clack of their mock battles
Seem a ritual of spring.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/18/10

Another night
In a still, silent old house
Alone with my thoughts.
The hours till dawn march onward
With or without the sleeper.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/19/10

The tiger's child wields
His brush like a sword as he
Fights like a dancer.
Long life and joy to him
Born in that auspicious year.

It's a tanka. It's a birthday greeting. It's both! The recipient was responsible for this: tousando.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=research&action=display&thread=3131

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/20/10

Clouds pile in the west,
A tangle of pinks and greys
Like slept-in bedding.
Chilly as the dusk breeze is
The empty mat that awaits.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/21/10

Whipped by savage winds
The maple cowers against
The side of the house.
Yet another storm thrashes
Its way through the countryside.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/22/10

Gnarled vines are laden
With purple and white cascades
Of bursting flowers.
So briefly the fuji* blooms
Before falling to tatters.

(The little Craftsman bungalow across the street has practically vanished beneath a curtain of pale purple in just a couple of days.)

*Wisteria

[Saionji Shonagon]

One cup tastes of joy,
While this one whispers subtleties.
That one struts and crows.
It is a delight to pour
For a circle of good friends.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/25/10 (Yes. I missed a day. I scribbled something down at the event I was at and I think I lost it. )

Hills robed in spring green
Loom over the pilgrim's path
As I move homeward.
If only it were my lot
To wear such a rich color.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/26/10
The lights of houses
In the hills defy the night
Despite their distance.
Here we are, shining, they cry.
As I watch from my window.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Clouds heavy with rain
March like a footsore army
Retreating eastward.
Even the sunset is grey
And the hills glower dimly.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/28/10

Jagged as flint blades
And as dark, white rimmed waves bite
And tear at the shore.
A sea bird hangs in the air
Defying the whipping wind.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/29/10

That stranger I see
Stares back at me with my eyes
From a mirror's depths.
Some days I would trade wisdom
For youth in all its folly.