winter months

along the Mystic River

empty boat slips

bring to mind a mournful mouth

with all the teeth missing.

Elaine Dillof

Mystic

Elaine Dillof lives in Mystic and says she looks forward to reading the newspaper every day. “Tanka” is a haiku formula that, instead of the traditional 5-7-5 syllabyl arrangement, uses a 5-7-5-7-7 formulation. Tanka has five phrases, while haiku contains only three. To submit a poem, email times@theday.com.

Poetry in a Pandemic offers local readers a chance to share their poetry written during or related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. To contribute, email times@theday.com.