CW Hawes

apples
still hanging on the tree
wear white caps
caught as they are
in the early snowfall

I am
swept away by feelings
which are
so intensely blue
they pale the sky

full moon
in the depths of the lake
the loon cries
and I find a friend
who shares my tears

so profuse
the crab apple blossoms
make a pink cloud
but who will remember
pink petals in August

having played
hooky the last two days
from work
I begin to feel guilty
at facing my coworkers

CW Hawes currently resides in Iowa, USA.

He is a writer who records an emotional diary of sorts through his poetry. Although he employs many forms in his work, he has a penchant for tanka because of its haiku-like precision, coupled with the lyrical qualities it possesses. Walt Whitman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Basho, Issa and Takuboku Ishikawa have been his poetic influences.

His work has appeared online in Poetic Voices, where he was the featured poet for November 2003; Makata, The Sidewalk's End, Write-Away Poetry, Ancient Heart, and Big Lick Literary Review; in print in The Valley Voice, Farm Romance and Adventure, and in the books The Jesse James Northfield Raid and Jesse James Ate Here, both by John Koblas.