Now the glue has dried,
pages fall out easily.
I have neglected
the book and it smells of age.
Decrepitude is winning.
The ink flowed well then
when this brush was new and fresh.
Laughable, I know,
if you look at these old hands.
Arthritis? What a bad joke.
Dreaming of dinner
I stir the wok busily
while you chop vegetables.
Shall it be red wine
or the white you like so much
that comes from your home country?
• Ken Head is a regular contributor to Ink Sweat & Tears. Tanka is a traditional Japanese 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format. Sedoka, which is a less popular format, is known as a pair of two half poems, in effect two half tanka.
