Such praise from a true poet like yourself for a dabbler like me is priceless and warms my heart and moistens my eyes. I do love this one you highlight--it is about the stirrings I was feeling for a woman with a kindred soul here on Earth, with the approval of my departed Sitara. Haiku #1 may not be as good, but perhaps you will now understand that it warms me like no other. Sitara is at the heart of my recent tanka on home is where the heart is (and so much of everything I write):
I miss you so much
Don’t worry beautiful soul
Third always “sees” you;
As we reside in my heart
I am always home with you
Chris, your responses epitomize "Meaningful Engagement," which is a tag I recently created in the mediumverse, and is a concept that Holly Kellums and I hope to make the standard paradigm here on Medium.
I hope you will read the entire 14-minute essay on meaningful engagement and the life lessons contained within the 109-word quote therein on acceptance
I think my tanka on meaningful engagement that you did see the other day is one of my best as I put a lot of effort into refining my first riff--perhaps you inspired it more than I knew when I wrote it:
Shout-outs — that’s claptrap
Egos love their attachments
but fear engagements
Share your views and thoughts with me
Feelings — true intimacy
I also feel like sharing this email I wrote to my kids as I see you are a father too and as I believe your kids are younger, I want to share with you the benefits of my mistakes both as a parent and as a young adult
