These three tanka are reprinted with permission from an’ya’s  book, “Tanka Tree Rings,” published in 2014.

she’s not far away

whenever I can hear

my wind chime . . .

it blows in the same breeze

that tangles her brunette hair

a flock of birds

rising from the ground 

in formation

how many wing beats

before evening falls

in autumn wind

have you ever heard pine trees

softly moaning?

because of love I’ve become

akin to the evergreen