April 2019 Tanka/Waka Challenge

[Saionji Shonagon]

I didn't see them
But I heard their soft voices
Outside my window.
In the tree beside the house
I heard the calling of doves.

[Saionji Shonagon]

All things that flourish
Must one day pass like a dream
Or a bell's echo.
Yes, we foolish humans mourn
And cling to memories.

[Saionji Shonagon]

The empty new house
Blasts light from all its windows
Late into the night.
After three years of building
This is the latest assault.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I have missed more days
Of my self-imposed challenge:
A poetic drought.
At least the road beckons me
For a weekend adventure.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Today's winding road
Led through towering forests
And springtime pastures.
I was a little drunk on
A thousand layers of green.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Windows thrown open
For the first time this season
I hope for a breeze.
Distant windows gleam with light
On the west-facing hillside.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Juggling them like balls,
I still count on my fingers
As I write these lines.
My building blocks are just words:
They're all we have to go on.

(Thanks, Tom Stoppard.)

[Saionji Shonagon]

I have failed this month
To produce a daily poem
Although it is spring.
Sometimes life gets in the way
Of all our best intentions.