Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Harryette Mullen

 Harryette Mullen

from Tanka Diary


I’m seeing lots of dead zebras lately

on floors of elegant homes pictured in
interior decorator magazines.

“We proudly harvest rainwater”—a sign
in a neighbor’s yard. With a deep barrel
I could humbly and thankfully harvest rain.

Several homeowners organize a neighbor-
hood watch patrol after discovering used
rubbers discarded on their lawns.

Folded cardboard tent-shaped trap
hanging among dark leaves of the lemon tree
to capture the galling Mediterranean fly.

A profusion of oleanders—to beautify
the freeway and filter the air, though
leaf, stem, and blossom all are poison.

Dried-out snake on the road
I brought as a curiosity to the child—
who insisted we give it a proper funeral.

Urban tumbleweed, some people call it,
discarded plastic bag we see in every city
blown down the street with vagrant wind

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