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Tanya McDonald — Touchstone Award for Individual Poems Winner 2018

Tanya McDonald is a recipient of a Touchstone Award for Individual Poems for 2018 for her poem

the blade
after the whetstone —
summer rain

It first appeared in Mariposa 38.

Commentary from the Panel:

“The work of spring & summer has prepared us to be ready for the fall harvest, just our our appetites have been sharpened. This stellar haiku takes us back to the land, to farming and a simpler time of life, and also provides allusions to what we reap and sow in our lives today. A simple, quiet poem, yet so effectively capturing the moment, and the season, that it retains its
layers of meaning and its freshness on each rereading.”

See the complete list of past winners of both Individual Poem Awards and Distinguished Books Awards in the Touchstone Archives.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Thank you, Dianne, Sandra, and Karina! And thank you to the judges (and to whoever was responsible for nominating the poem in the first place). It’s truly an honor and a delight.

  2. This poem evokes the eastern part of the states of Washington and Oregon …. rolling hills of wheat. Gorgeous.

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