The following cherita were first published in Issue 102 of the cherita, the stone, in 2025.
tomato
hornworm
coated in cocoons
I pluck them off
thinking
myself kind
newborn girl
a cardinal
alights
on the windowsill
I never knew
my wife’s baba
Category: Poetry
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Cherita 1-2
The following cherita were first published in Issue 97 of the cherita, my heart, 2025.
Sisyphus
rolling a snowball
uphill
tired
I take a seat
and it collapses
all-consuming darkness
the river
choked with ice
Christmas lights
twinkle desperately
casting meager shadows
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Sequence 3: Radioactive
The following haiku sequence was first published in Under the Bashō, now defunct, in 2025. The first line of each haiku is a name for off-brand Mountain Dew soda.
Radioactive
mountain dew
condensation on the can
summer morn
mountain summit
the pop and hiss
of the pull-tab
mountain frost
the click of ice
against glass
mountain lightning
fluorescent syrup
cracks the ice
mountain showers
a rush of bubbles
rise to the surface
mountain splash
the assault of citrus
on my tongue
mountain fury
coolness slips
down my throat
mountain explosion
energy floods
my brain
mountain lion
ready to
conquer the world
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Sequence 2: North Dakota Bones
Image from the Agricultural Research Service. The following tanka sequence was first published in the Fall 2025 edition of Ribbons. The sequence travels geographically across North Dakota from east to west, detailing significant places from my childhood. Tatanka is the Lakota word for bison, a creature of great significance to North Dakotans.
North Dakota Bones
Red River Valley
amidst the powerline forest
and cell tower sentinels
I pull back the quilt
of endless farmland
Drift Prairie
a sea of corn
washes over the hills
drowning my judgment
of those who still live here
returning home
after twenty years
my appreciation grows
for this land of sky and nothing
and the limitless horizon
the Badlands
the scruffy bison lumber
over sage and cacti
surrounding our car
we yield to their right-of-way
Little Missouri River
we cross the muddy water
just kids with tans
collecting tatanka bones
misfit sons of the prairie
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Sequence 1: Water
The following haiku sequence was first published in Under the Bashō, now defunct, in 2025.
Water
driving rain
along the highway
the window fogs
biting sleet
changing a tire
in the dark
sideways ice
a hot shower
washes away the cold
howling wind
dripping clothes by the door
tomato soup
winter storm warning
windows shaking
I draw the covers
swirling snow
no place to go
alarm clock shut off
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Tanka 11
The following tanka was first published in the Tanka Society of America: Member’s Anthology, 2025. Shenyang is a city in northern China with a population of 9 million. This is about my son, then 16-months-old.
Shenyang neon
reflected in the rain
70 km/h
my arms an extra seat belt
around my sleeping son
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Tanka 10
The following tanka was first published in the December 2025 issue of Quail Eggs.
praying about
adopting my Chinese niece
for a season
all the different paths
that rain can make