Barbara Newton-Holmes

Tanka – 7 July 2025
Masts tickle the sky’s
Belly, aching for a breeze
To blow their pale sails
And carry us away to
A different fantastic land.

Chula Vista Bayside Park, San Diego CA (29Jun25)

Tanka – 6 July 2025
Which deeds, what karma
Brought me to a place at the
Apocalypse, now?
The tides sweep in past history.
May they sweep me out to depth.

Ellen Browning Scripps Park, La Jolla, San Diego County CA (9Jan2021)

Tanka – 5 July 2025
Little faces all
Around you, beautiful and
Growing. Enjoy them!
See how big your life can be
When you see it all expand.

Embarcadero, near Convention Center, San Diego CA (1Jul25)

Tanka – 4 July 2025
What makes a nation
Better or worse, great or mean?
How we all relate.
What a difference if all are
Respected and included.

Top of the Hyatt, 1 Market Place, Marina District, San Diego CA (29Jan25)

Tanka – 3 July 2025
With what do you fill
Your copa de la vida,
Your own cup of life?
Don’t hesitate to live the
Life that you really dream of.

Solunto, India Street, Little Italy, San Diego CA (1Jul25)

Tanka – 2 July 2025
Unidentified
Flying object, trying to
Escape the concrete
Confining conversations
Repeating inside his head.

F Street and Fourth Avenue, East Village, San Diego CA (25June25)

Tanka – 1 July 2025
Time passes, light fades,
Life moves forever onward.
We live only now.
Let memories fade away,
Future fears evaporate.

Peony from Trader Joe’s, in my vase, Treo, Columbia District, San Diego CA (29Jun25)

Tanka – 30 June 2025
I think I’ll spend the
Day in this peony,
Wrapped in memory
Of childhood neighbors
Who grew them in their garden.

Peony from Trader Joe’s, in my vase, Treo, Columbia District, San Diego CA (28Jun25)

Tanka – 29 June 2025
Do you remember
(Or can you imagine?) the
Cooling ocean breeze?
Let it dance through the spaces
Of each of your molecules.

Fletcher Cover, Solana Beach, San Diego County CA (1May25)

Tanka – 28 June 2025
Today’s music has
A thump thump rhythm, but the
Melody seems lost.
Where’s the uplifting, lilting,
Curved sound of love discovered?

The Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, Harbor Drive, San Diego CA (24June25)

Tanka – 27 June 2025
It’s the little things
That count: A tiny blossom,
A secret smile.
A quick heartfelt hug, a kiss.
Don’t miss: be in the moment.

Garden Cosmos, Kettner Boulevard, Harborview, San Diego CA (26May25)

Tanka – 26 June 2025
My daily routine
Keeps me grounded, down to earth,
Whatever else goes,
Be it the news local or
National, or just dreaming.

825 Kettner Blvd., Marina District, San Diego CA (23June25)

Tanka – 25 June 2025
Stop! Let’s go dancing!
Leave the world of worries
Behind our swirls
And twirls, tippy-tapping
Our troubles away for now.

Parking Lot at RaDD, 950 Waterfront Place, San Diego CA (17June25)

Tanka – 24 June 2025
Blue light cuddles me
As I see double at a
Happy Hour with friends:
Couples with conversation.
Homemade crackers, yummy dips.

Palm and 6th Avenue, San Diego CA (17Jun25)

Tanka – 23 June 2025
Keep to the straight and
Narrow, if you want to
Be sure to get there.
Yet, a wide and wavy view
Can be a refreshing sight.

Harbor Drive, looking east, San Diego CA (18June25)

Tanka – 22 June 2025
We rush to turn on
Lights as the sun slides away.
Satellite contrail
Spreads, melting after the launch.
In desert, it's dark, with stars

View west from Treo, Columbia District, San Diego CA (16June25)

Tanka – 21 June 2025
Solitary, waiting,
Each in our only moment,
Living life now.
How to know how long to stay?
How to know when to fly off?

Heron, Harborview Embarcadero, San Diego CA (12Jun25)

Tanka – 20 June 2025
How to glimpse before
And after? Even, maybe,
Where we are headed?
Takes a special angle, or,
Knowledge of history.

400 West Broadway, San Diego CA (17Jun25)

Tanka – 19 June 2025
Strolling among the
Stripes and angled reflections,
I wander, wonder
What might next arise today
That changes the whole world.

LEEDS building, Kettner Boulevard, San Diego CA (10June25)

Tanka – 18 June 2025
Around again, the
Sun goes down, no matter where
You live, it gives away
The day that’s past, and tumbles
Into open arms of night.

Miguel Hidalgo, Polanco, Mexico City, Mexico (4Apr25)

Tanka – 17 June 2025
Red so vibrant I
Can feel the buzz in my
Blood as I pass by,
Inhaling the drive of life,
Letting go of all the past.

Miguel Hidalgo, Polanco, Mexico City, Mexico (4Apr25)

Tanka Poem – 16 June 2025
An argument of
Crows broke me from my slumber,
Dissolved my dreaming
Of a dinner in China,
By ruckus within the trees.

It went on for hours,
Crows flying out and about.
Then silence. Quiet,
For days now. All forgotten?
Forgiven? Who’d won? No one?

Tanka – 15 June 2025
Straight edged and squarely
Placed, protecting true center,
The point of it all:
Of no dimension, and yet,
Embracing infinity.

Kettner Boulevard, Little Italy, San Diego CA (10Jun25)

Tanka – 14 June 2025
And what will today
Become? No way to know for
Sure…Be still, watching.
Each moment is the only
One. Embrace it. Connect.

Treo, Columbia District, San Diego CA (1Apr25)

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Tanka – 12 June 2025
So many signals,
Signs, telling me where and when
I should be going.
But maybe I will just stop
And pause a moment longer.

2064 Kettner Boulevard, Harborview, San Diego CA (10Jun25)

Can't wait to read it!

Tanka – 12 June 2025
So many signals,
Signs, telling me where and when
I should be going.
But maybe I will just stop
And pause a moment longer.

2064 Kettner Boulevard, Harborview, San Diego CA (10Jun25)

Tanka – 11 June 2025
On a dreary day
Of June Gloom greyness, there’s
Always something bright.
Perhaps a flower, or your
Sweet smile from across the room.

Sunflowers from TJs, Treo, Columbia District, San Diego CA (7Jun25)

Tanka – 10 June 2025
“Cheep, cheep, cheep! Churroo!”
The bitty bird above me sings
A sweet aria.
It drips down to my heart and
Lifts my soul like a balloon.

Kettner Boulevard, Marina District, San Diego CA (2June25)