hainka #7
winter on the wane
fading into memory
warmer days ahead
twinkle in blue eyes
wild mustache above wide smile
scent at nape of neck
silken hair ‘tween my fingers
fading into memory
©2026 Kate Wolfe
haiku #70
gold tints evening sky
mean season drawing to end
winter takes last bow
©2025 2026 Kate Wolfe
All images are my own watercolors.
his dead body rests
tangled in cypress tree roots
that will never tell
of the hatchet in his skull
nor the sin he committed
©2026 Kate Wolfe
The featured image is my own old watercolor, which I converted to a monochromatic style. The tanka is also a few years old and was inspired by the painting.
summer days long gone
green gave way to barren limbs
sunny days to clouds
a presence now gone
enshrined in yesterday's dreams
summer days long gone
surge grimly through troubled thoughts
scrubs away turbulent times
©2026 Kate Wolfe
Featured image is my own watercolor, painted in summer 2025.
daffodils thrust up
through cold January dirt
planted years ago
over beloved pet's grave—
reminder that life goes on
©2026 Kate Wolfe
Featured image is my own photo taken where my late husband’s favorite cat, Chelsea, was laid to rest.
sunset...
December 20th, 2025
three days into widowhood
still seems unreal
I'll go into the house
and he won't be there
just an empty chair
and twenty-five years of memories
some bad...more good
with a man who was hard to live with
but who loved me beyond measure
even when I didn't deserve it
how I wish he could have seen
this beautiful sunset
on his life
and who knows
maybe he was standing there
close beside me
no longer locked
in a dying body
chained to misery
at long last
soaring free
©2026 Kate Wolfe
Featured image my own photo taken at sunset three days following my husband’s death.
north wind caterwauls
chilling late October morn
pampas grass shivers
fall settling in
on a heart that’s winding down
north wind caterwauls
turning blood to sluggish ice
death looms over horizon
©2026 Kate Wolfe
Featured image is my own manipulated photo.
