Ring/Drum/Blanket Poem

Over at Wild Rose Reader, Elaine interviewed one of my favorite poets, Janet Wong. I have several of Janet's books and use them frequently with my students. One of her books, Behind the Wheel, was the inspiration for my teacher presentation for the Maryland Writing Project. The poems were a big hit with the teachers and with teenaged boys. (I'm always looking for ways to get boys to read more poetry, but that's a blog for another day.)
Elaine and Janet issued an invitation to write a poem using the following three words: ring, drum, blanket. I usually don't feel confident enough about my poems to share them with the poets I admire like Janet and Elaine, but Laura Salas wrote a blog the other day that encouraged me to share my "poem-sketches." It takes the pressure off when I think of my poems as works-in-progess. I've always believed in the adage, "A poem is never really finished, just abandoned." I'm not sure I've totally abandoned this little poem yet, but here's what I have so far. It's another tanka. I've been writing tanka for a few years now, and have even had a few published. I like the brevity of the form and trying to paint an image/emotion with just a few words. So here goes.


ring of white-tailed deer
circle our crabapple tree
hooves drum frozen ground
pulling back blankets of snow
in search of a midnight snack




I don't belong to a writer's group so suggestions are always appreciated. Now, I'm wondering if I'm up for Elaine's next challenge, an apology poem. : )