solemn silver birch
sentinel by the fence line
guardian of dreams
worshipped once as a goddess
shelter my spirit anew

This tanka was written in response to a prompt from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie in which we were to create a poem based on Marc Chagall’s painting, The Poet Reclining. I was fascinated by the single birch tree in the painting, knowing that birch trees are considered a cultural symbol in Russia where this image was painted.