Roll the dice tanka

my dad taught me
how to roll the dice
on sandy soil
now I live the life
of an orphan

First published in A HUndred Gourds 2:2 March 2013
http://ahundredgourds.com/ahg22/tanka12.html

Twisting the hands of Socrates, four tanka

Sometimes, I challenge my self just to get new poetic ideas. And this afternoon, I thought randomly about popular quotes of great people and I suddenly fell into Socrates. I am not really into philosophy but reading his quotes has sparked the ideas I desired. Most quotes transformed into these works are here http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/socrates.html

1/
life unexamined
is not worth living
as always
you don't let me
leave our treehouse

2/
will you marry me?
it's been years after I do
i find it
too hard to convince you
that poetry suits me fine

3/
leaving
this tall building
at noon...
only to see the clouds
letting my shadow darken

4/
picking the gray
out of my hair
curiously
she asks me how
to trim hate and desire