| Oregon Haiku & Tanka Society |
| M a r a l e e G e r k e |
| Maralee Gerke is a native Oregonian, born in the Willamette Valley. She has lived in Central Oregon for 38 years and taught elementary school for 21 years. She graduated from Western Oregon College and still continues to learn.
Maralee has been writing seriously for six years. She has published many poems and some small nonfiction articles on gardening. Her poems appeared in Calyx, Windfall, Bathtub Gin, Avocet, Moonset, Cascade Reader, Tigers Eye, and in the Shadow Poetry Anthology. About haiku, Maralee has this to say: "I like the challenge of distilling a moment down to the fewest words possible. It is a good mental exervize. I love seeing the beauty in small moments." In addition to writing, she loves gardening, reading, and making handmade cards. Maralee Gerke's Chapbook Looking Back, Facing Forward, published in 2003, contains 35 poems by Maralee. To purchase this book, go to the Shadow Poetry website at www.shadowpoetry.com. One customer reviewed named Andrea had this to say about Looking Back, Facing Forward: "Shadow Poetry has discovered another awesome poetess. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapbook of Maralee Gerke. This extremely talented writer, as the title of the book conveys, gives us her reflections past and present, beginning with a poem about the magic of writing poetry and finishing with a poem about a river...Maralee does not rhyme. She takes words and weaves them together, converting them to garments of elequent fashion. She writes of humanity, womanhood, and of life's mystery, or she takes an ordinary scene and makes it extraordinary with imagery and superb descriptive writing. She gets an A from this English teacher." Haiku by Maralee Gerke |
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snow melt on patterned linoleum� my stocking feet |
on the lake a loon calls me home |
winter soil welcomes rain� I imagine daffodils |
cloudless sky� blackberries stain my greedy mouth |
english tea japanese cup� the world streams |
twinkle lights through the fog� nearing solstice |
before sunrise honking geese fly south |
morning gloom� a single poppy glows orange |