1 _tanka

the hope of
summer rain vanishes
leaving
a neighbor's dog
to water the roses

2 _haiku

heat wave chasing
all the birds and the blues
from the sky

3 _tanka

a cloud of gnats
follows
a child's sno-cone
through  
the petting zoo

4 _haiku/senryu

old mission archway
black birds napping
in ascending order

5 _tanka

lunch at the beach,
businessmen strip
and wade into
childhood

6 _haiku

looking out to sea
the sky  walks  a fine line

7 _{haiku renga}

air ballet
on the breakwater...
fishermen and gulls

under the pier
bait in a plastic pail
holding their breath

8 _haiku/senryu

still seeking shade,
mating crabs in the shallows

9 _haiku

the tang of sea air,
rot of a morning's catch
in my nostrils

10 _tanka

old seadog
with his mutt
scans the boardwalk
for smokes
at crack of dawn

11 _haiku/senryu

minefield-
jellyfish in the
seaweed washing ashore

12 _senryu

beyond the breakers,
shaved heads
and a buoy bobbing

13 _haiku

evening star
white-finned boats
sailing into dusk

14 _senryu

man-in-the-moon,
revelers of two
at the bonfire

15 _tanka

thousands
of silver slivers as
moonlight
erupts from the sand-
the grunion run!

16 _haiku

drowning
harbor seals barking
roar of high tide

17 _{haiku renga}

porpoise
sounding offshore
siren song

incoming wave
beached dinghy listing
lullaby

18 _tanka

the first day-
he carves their initials
into a piling
while
blue mussels hold fast

19 _{haiku renga}

straw hats & sunscreen
digging
for sand crabs

low tide
bones of driftwood
a jogger    leaps!

20 _tanka

marshland inlet-
peregrins circle over
empty
black skimmer nests

21 _{tanka rensaku}

children play
under the lifeguard tower
and mistake
the sleeping dog
for kelp

two lifeguards
toss
a lime-green frisbee
while the dog bites
at sand fleas

22 _{haiku renga}

gulls riding updrafts-
the old carnival
tent flap

coming to rest
at tide line
a half-eaten corndog

23 _tanka

after
the dune buggy race,
a turtle
emerges
from the tire tracks

24 _tanka

in the smoldering
wreck
of a beach bungalow,
I find
a crystal door knob

25 _haiku

new moon at twilight
stars raining
into the sea

26 _senryu

beyond the reef
scattered ashes
his son's trip to Peru

27 _haiku

rainless clouds
white-masted thunder
from the east

28 _tanka

before dawn
seasick tourists
below deck,
the day boat bound for
Catalina

29 _tanka

bristling with tackle,
the offshore barge...
two boys fish
bare-handed
from the bait tank

30 _senryu

a bi-plane's banner
reading backwards
on the sunbathers

31 _haiku

sandpipers chasing
the receding gold of day

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