Tanka Writing Roundtable • Spring 2024
Dr. Randy Brooks

FLEETING MOMENTS
Tanka & Haiku Collection

by
Leah Flint

Leah Flint (she/her) is a second-year student at Millikin University majoring in Musical Theatre, with a minor in Digital Media Marketing. She’s originally from Leawood, Kansas, but has taken quite a liking to Illinois during her time at Millikin. Leah took Dr. Brooks’ Global Haiku class last semester and fell back in love with poetry, so she decided to explore tanka this semester. It has been an interesting journey for her to move from writing three-line to five-line poetry, but she enjoyed the exploration and challenge.

Her tanka collection is largely comprised of favorites from her family and classmates, as well as haiku that she feels showcases her writing style, creative mind, and ideal poetry aesthetic. As a twenty-something college student, growing pains are not something she is unfamiliar with. She thought this title would be a great reflection of the lens of someone who feels like she’s reaching the end of “growing up.” She hopes you like her haiku, and that they speak to you in some way, however that may be. 

heart-shaped
graduation gift
on my ring finger
from the grandmother
no one likes

small baggie of
colorful pop tabs
you gave me
do I save them just because
I like the colors?

chittering ducks
and chirping crickets
tune the night
— this moonlight
symphony

frozen yogurt
with little sis
my five flavors
to her favorite
plain tarte

childlike laugh
bursts out
the dog and I
play chase
around the couch

missing the clear blue
of your eyes
I stare at your picture
afraid I’ll forget
if I stop looking

teacher reads
his poetry
I remember how
my father
read to me

gaggle of children
on the first warm day
        “I will never be
        this young again”
sadness swallows me whole

try to enjoy
the night walk
wind bites
my fingers
— I imagine her hand

sunken eyes
I ask myself
is it worth
losing any more sleep
over you?

when mom and dad are
out of their hair
sisters talk

oh to be
in two places at once
childhood bedroom
arms still wrapped
around you

checking a box
just to
add another line
a growing list
fills every moment 

two-hour phone call 
my baby sister
on the line
finally asks
for my advice

the playlist
you made for me
over and over and over
just
to feel you her

I wait to finish it
— your favorite book
tabbed and annotated
until we part
for summer

like ice cream melting
on hot pavement
you slip
from my fingers
what once was

you give me
the last one 
— this can
of Arnold Palmer
all your love

still feel the kiss
you left
on my shoulder
how slow time moves
when you’re away