i
On the street corner
used and discarded needles,
broken bottles too.
The downtrodden neglected,
Mother Teresa long dead.
ii
Bottled up feelings
like a Molotov cocktail,
stuffed and volatile.
When circumstances throw him,
he’ll blow his top like Etna.
iii
Bottle tipped over,
red wine stained white tablecloth.
Lipstick on glass rim,
her perfume scent still lingered.
The filthy slut betrayed him.
iv
Glass milk jug bottles,
Wonder Bread pb and js,
Father Knows Best, Roy Rogers,
saddle shoes and bobby sox.
My fifties and sixties life.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today, Grace asks us to write about bottles.
The Tanka form is a 5 line poem with the following syllabic content in each line: 5-7-5-7-7
Roy Rogers and Father Knows Best were very popular tv shows in the 1950s. Roy Rogers vied for viewers with Gene Autry and also the Lone Ranger.
We always got glass milk jugs from the grocer….no such thing as waxed cardboard containers in those days. Wonder Bread is a spongey white bread, still sold in groceries today. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Wonder Bread were always in my tin Lone Ranger lunch box!
lillian the home poet 
Oh I love the last one after the sad few first ones…
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You know me….always (or almost always) have to end on the up beat 🙂
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Your bottle vignettes in tanka form are all so different in content and tone, Lill, but linked by the bottle theme. The first is so sad and the second violent. I was drawn to the cinematic scene with the tipped over bottle, red win stain and lipstick on a glass rim – the final line came as a surprise!
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yep – I was surprised by that last line when it came out of my pen. I contemplated changing it but then thought….go with it. Weird….seemed out of character for me, even from me! 🙂
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These are such lovely, poignant vignettes, Lillian! 😍 I especially resonate with; “Bottled up feelings like a Molotov cocktail, stuffed and volatile.” ❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa!
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We are all living in our microcosms amongst all these other problems, things, stories. That’s what I take out of your writing. Very well done.❤️🙏🏼
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Yep — there’s bottles everywhere!
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They are all amazing, but the 3rd stands out for me. Wonderful tankas!
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Thanks, Miriam. I must admit, when that last line popped out of my head for the 3rd stanza, I was a bit surprised with myself! Glad you like it.
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Love all the different versions of the bottle specially the last one. I am nostalgic for those glass milk bottles.
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Thanks, Grace. One time my mother took a new gallon glass jug of milk out of the fridge, started to carry it to the supper table, and there must have been a crack or a flaw….the entire bottom fell out – broken glass and a gallon of milk on the floor!
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You sure covered the bottle subject. I like how you used “bottled”. I was going to pick a favorite but they’re all good. I remember those ugly saddle shoes!
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Thanks, Yvonne. Do you remember “bubbles”? They were a softer saddle shoe: more flexible. They quickly became more popular – that was in the early 1960s!
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A wonderful set of poem. Your last set took me home. Such great memories!
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Thanks, Dwight. Glad you enjoyed.
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You are welcome!
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Such a range in these vignettes–sadness, violence, and nostalgic.
I like the vivid image of the Molotov cocktail and all the images in the third one.
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Thank you, Merril. I must admit. That last line in the third one popped out of my mind and I was a bit surprised by it…but went with it. 🙂
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You’re welcome, Lill. Isn’t it fun when that happens?!
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Fantastic Tanka’s Lillian 🙌
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Thank you!
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I love reading and the challenge of writing tanka poems…..you have outdone yourself with these gems. I simply cannot choose a favorite, each is splendid.
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Thank you so much, Helen! And fun to see you at OLN LIVE on Saturday!
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Phew! It was nice to go back to simpler times in the last one. And I liked them all, they’re all strong effective poems.
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Thank you! Yes, the first three are rather intense…..sometimes I’m amazed when I look down and see what the pen has written! 🙂
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Tats an original and complete take on the prompt. Each tanka stands so well on its own.
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Thank you, Kim!
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That third tanka is amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed!
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Thank you, Colleen! Yes….the last line on that third tanka popped into my head and I had to ponder a bit to see if I had the guts to write it….It’s a bit more harsh than what I usually write, but it seemed to fit.
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These are excellent, Lillian. Clever and enjoyable!
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Thank you! I do enjoy this form.
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