It’s Poetry Friday!
I’ve been keeping up with my April Poetry Project of writing a tanka a day. Since I didn’t post last week, I’ll share two today. The first was inspired by the line “What is so utterly invisible as tomorrow?” in a poem from Little Alleluias by Mary Oliver, as well as my beautiful cherry tree currently in full bloom:
Time
Today there are buds
expecting to burst open
into tomorrow –
living all that can be lived
even for such a brief time.
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli
Most of the time my inspiration comes from poetry, but sometimes I pull from observations or events happening around me. I have a bird cam feeder, and while I enjoy watching the birds that visit, I also like to try to spot evening or night visitors. Sometimes I can make out deer crossing in front of the feeder, other times I use my imagination, like I did for this tanka that was also inspired by “Twenty Minutes in the Backyard” by Alberto Rios in You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World edited by Ada Limón:
At Night
Something moved across
the landscape of the back yard
in the dark of night –
perhaps searching for shelter
or an end to loneliness.
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli
Heidi has the roundup today at My Juicy Little Universe. Be sure to stop by for a special treat – a conversation with Heidi, Margaret Simon, and Jone Rush MacCulloch on all things poetry for kids and lots of other poetry goodness.
Imagine the Possibilities 
Gorgeous! The idea of something or someone searching for an end to loneliness is so poignant. xo
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Thank you, Irene.
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I agree with Irene! Very poignant, Rose.
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Gorgeous cherry tree!! Envious that you have a bird cam feeder. Mysterious night visitors sound intriguing. Your poem is so evocative!
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Thanks, Jama.
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I shared a picture of a cherry tree this week, too! My son and I were identifying all the different birds and animals we saw on our suburban walk to school this morning – even out here in the ‘burbs, there’s nature all around us! What an incredible blessing it is, to be surrounded by life.
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Cherry trees are so beautiful! Glad you can enjoy nature where you live.
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searching perhaps/
for an end of loneliness
How beautiful! I love your second tanka so much. It’s striking in all the best ways. Happy Poetry Month!
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Thank you, Linda.
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These are so both beautiful. I’ll be thinking about this “invisible as tomorrow”.
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Rose, that tree is magificent. Your poems are fruther proof that poetry exists all around us. Our very own backyards hold vast treasures.
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Rose, your two poems are the seeds to plant more ideas. Time and At Night have lines that hit me and made me pause.
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“Loveliest of trees the cherry now” by AE Houseman is one of a handful of poems that I have committed to memory. I recite it incessantly at this time of year, but I change the numbers to reflect my own age and possible longevity. “and since to look at things in bloom, twenty springs is little room, about the woodlands I will go, to see the cherry hung with snow.” Only TWENTYish more, if I’m lucky! Maybe fewer. So I cherish every single spring!
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I’m with you on cherishing every spring, every moment!
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Rose, I love
“budsexpecting to burst openinto tomorrow –”
tomorrow, tomorrow, what may come, may it be one degree better than worse–
so goes the prayer of the future-lover like me!I’m very interested that you most often get your inspiration from others’ poems and less often from your experiences…I shall be thinking on that equation for myself.
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I think generally I do pull from my own experiences, but for this April project my intent was to be inspired by the words of others. Sometimes that happens, but when it doesn’t, I know all I have to do is look around (or within). I loved the video with Margaret and Jone. Thoughtful and inspiring! Thank you.
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or an end to loneliness.
So unexpected and touching!
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Rose, I love both tankas. I have not tried that form for a while. Yours remind me of this opportunity to take a haiku just a bit further and see what opens up. Your cherry tree is gorgeous!
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Gorgeous cherry tree! We have so many flowering trees in our neighborhood. I love the beauty and sweetness of spring. I love your tankas. “At Night” made me think of the raccoons that “move across our landscape” at night. They like to get on my neighbor’s porch and eat any left over pet food that might be there.
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Rose, I love “burst open into tomorrow.” That line break is perfection.
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Thanks, Marcie.
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Rose, your tankas are a delight. I enjoy reading your inspiration too. I need to learn from you and read more poetry. I’ve been in a dry spell lately! “burst open into tomorrow / living all that can be lived” is just beautiful for the spring blossoms.
I love the mysterious visitor in your second poem “Something moved across…”
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Your second poem powerfully pulls at feelings of what’s there and desire to help fill that void, thanks for both Rose!
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