Halloween Tanka Matching Contest - 4 - Fall 2011 • Millikin University

between flashes of light
on a heated dance floor
a lone magician
locks eyes with me--
meow

rolling sweets
on my tongue
I remember
the kisses
of autumn lovers

pray a hail mary
bless the ground
beneath my signature print
steal, crossover,
DUNK!

a runner running,
crunching shades of brown.
crescent moon
don't leave me
for I'm almost home

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top quarter champion

 

TOP half Chamption

bottom quarter champion

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unfolding the flesh
of a ripe pomegranate
if only
the seeds of love
were so easily released

two headstones
joined by a stone heart--
I wonder how
to tell if this
is a happy ending

breaking through
I climb up to Earth
in search of the
coward who stole
my heart

no name
on the grave
moonlight
writes a new
history for us

 

TOP half champion

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CHAMPION
 

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BOTTOM half champion

enchanted by
the witch's kiss
he hides his heart
behind a scarecrow's
simple smile

scarecrow
in the mist
if only
I had
a brain

as Harry made his way
into the dark forest
he accepted his fate:
neither can live
while the other survives

slasha films
driving my
actions.
do...not...open...
the knob turns

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top quarter champion

 

BOTTOM half champion

bottom quarter champion

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standing before his friends
in honesty
his mask
ripped away
by the wind

costumed as lovers
for the night
you're mine...
I awake to the sight
of a smashed jack o' lantern

I once was a
teenage werewolf,
prowling the theater
pews
hungry for your touch

silent night
she calls the wolves
to her circle
preparing
for one last hunt

© 2011, Randy Brooks • Millikin University. All rights returned to authors upon publication.