Another Sunrise

a promise kept
of another sunrise
the sound of a bird
I no longer try
to name

As I progress through life’s stages, I often find myself reflecting on moments I once overlooked or viewed through a different lens. A simple sunrise, for instance, gains significance when I contemplate how many more I have left to enjoy.

This tanka was inspired by such a moment. One morning, as I sipped my coffee, surrounded by peaceful calm, I listened to birds singing in the forest behind my home. Many of them I recognized by their familiar calls, though they remained hidden in the trees. Among them was a bird with an unfamiliar yet beautiful song. Typically, my curiosity would get the better of me and I’d reach for my smartphone to identify it, pulling me away from the world around me. But that morning, I chose to stay present and simply enjoy the song and the moment.

To deepen the tanka’s meaning, I wove in the idea of a promise kept. For me, it was another sunrise morning, with hopes of many more to come. But what of someone with only a few left? Someone told a month ago they had a month to live? For them, with perhaps only a prayer between them and God—a bargain for one more dawn—a sunrise carries profound meaning.

Let the birds sing, and may we cherish their songs.

I’m honored to have this tanka featured among those of my peers published in The Tanka Society of America’s Laurels Issue #4, published August 2025.