Loved and unloved #tanka prose

#whatdoyousee

To think I thought I knew you. To have shoveled all my doubt to the furthest echelons of mind and memory. And then to lock it away. And to trust. And to love on…

the gifts once given
times my joy would come from yours
bonds of happiness
the phone by which you waited
the lamp by which you wrote me

A girly girl if ever there was; you were irresistible. With a mellifluous laughter that swooned me into submission, and a refinement which had me spellbound. You had it all; the deft curtsy, the twinkling blush, and the arrousing flirt. I fell willingly; addicted to you.

only yesterday
changing seasons brought wonder
until love was spent
and this life became mundane
and doubt kicked down its prison

Since then I have dialed the number to that girly phone beside that princess lamp; remnants of our love. As I listened I recalled; the vodka we’d drink through late nights beside that very phone, and the lace we’d leave behind on our way to a lover’s boudoir. It was once our lovedrunk voices that answered but now it is only yours; yours and another’s that say, “sorry we are not home. After the tone, leave us a message.”

bitter and battered
these sayings of modern youth
true until disproved
‘she’ you love is never yours
it is always just your turn

copyright judeitakali.

---

I was hanging with some friends recently, including some married ones, and we all seemed to agree through reminiscence and some retellings that indeed, “she is never yours, it’s only your turn.” I wonder what you think; about the tanka prose poetry, and this theory.

for Sadje’s whatdoyousee photoprompt

Colleen’s tanka tuesday syllabic challenge

My debut novel on Lulu.