David Rice

Life Cycles

The young may exaggerate. Their pre-frontal cortexes are dough, not bread. But they understand, when the adults-in-charge make decisions to keep the financial engines running smoothly, even though the climate alarm keeps buzzing, that those adults are smash-trashing their future.

The young have to keep pushing, even if they’re not fully formed.

the cranes
were still calling
when we left—
how else could they try
to tell us 

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About the Author

David Rice was the editor of the Tanka Society of America’s triannual journal, Ribbons, from 2012 to 2019. His latest book, Tanka Quartets (2020), is a responsive tanka collection written with Autumn Noelle Hall.

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