You, hear me! Give this
fire to that old man. Pull the
black worm off the bark
and give it to the mother.
No spitting in the ashes.
Ancient words, according to Linguists identify 15,000-year-old ‘ultraconserved words’, The Washington Post, 16 May 2013. ‘And’ removed from last line to satisfy tanka form. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.
Verbatim Poetry 