Of all the objects in this room
violets capture my gaze

not the cat curled into a fur hat
on top of the computer

not the clock
stocktaking time

just violets in a blue bottle
the size of my thumb

stems tangled into tree roots
in an underwater scene

Any minute now fish
will swim between them.

 

Kathy Kituai

 

Kathy Kituai is a Poet, Diarist and founder of Limestone Tanka Poets. She has received two Canberra Critic’s Awards and published eight collections of poetry. Deep in the Valley of Tea Bowls won the 2017 ACT Writing and Publishing Award and gained second place in the 2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka competition. She has facilitated creative writing courses for 26 years.

© 2018