Cool Announcement: New Release, A Solitary Woman

                                                                                                    will i be remembered
                                                                                                    as a poet
                                                                                                    a lover or a fool?
                                                                                                    wild asters flooding
                                                                                                    in autumn rains

                                                                                                    Pamela A. Babusci

My Dear Friends:

NeverEnding Story contributor Pamela A. Babusci published a collection of  146 tanka, titled A Solitary Woman. Thematically and structurally speaking, the book is skillfully sequenced to flow seamlessly from one tanka to the next in an attempt to "capture the heart of a woman, express its frailty and sensuality, and present her for her many strengths."

About the Author:

Pamela A. Babusci is an award-winning haiku, tanka and haiga artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award, International Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place, Tanka Yellow Moon Competition (Australia), First Place, Kokako Tanka Competition (NZ), First Place, Saigyo Tanka Competition (US), First Place, Inaugural Tanka Festival, and Certificate of Merit Award, 7th International Japan Tanka Contest Excellence Award.

Selected Tanka

skinny dipping
in a summer river
a million stars
clothe us
in liquid light

Milky Way swirling
in martini glasses
with each sip
we swallow
star after star

what gives me
more ecstasy
a calla lily opening
or your fingers
exploring me?

you altered my body
to fit into yours –
how gracefully
the paper-whites bend
towards the moon

the intense white
of chrysanthemums
while making love
i become
a thousand petals

never pregnant
i cut into a ripe
pomegranate
red seeds flowing
down the barren sink

folding up her heart
into a neat
origami box
careful not to spill
out the brokenness

a solitary woman
knows a heartache
or two
tossing scarlet petals
into her evening bath

river of stars
in the pond
i scoop up
Orion’s belt and tie it
around my heart

first calligraphy
the feel of it
on rice paper
writing a love letter
to my deceased mother