This tanka was published in Hedgerow, a journal of small poems ~ #130, Winter 2020

we turn away

from all we just can’t face—

the glistening red

of a vulture’s head

emerges from a carcass

Poet’s note:

Out of decay comes art and beauty. Look what artist Georgia O’Keefe created from a skull found where she lived in New Mexico. All is part of nature and is nature.

Deer’s Skull with Pedernal by Georgia O’Keefe (c) 1936

Where I live in central North Carolina, we have plenty of black vultures and turkey vultures. They circle and gather in the sky when there is carrion to be had. I chose this topic for the tanka because it’s a scene I’ve seen more than once. Yes, it’s not a pretty sight. Vultures, especially when eating a dead animal or gathering in a group in a tree or abandoned house do give you shivers…