Cyclical

Each new day
The same old drill
Come what may
Or come what will

Anti-Freeze

Miura peninsula winter
Brings no ice or frost,
So bits of summer remain,
The green is never lost,
It grows, spreads, and spills,
Out of the cold dirt, led by
The hardy daffodils...

Precipitant

A kind of sediment,
That which is me,
Accumulated over time
Into  identity,
Mostly self aware,
But not completely,
To be fair...

安浦公園

A tall pole-mounted clock
Stands next to the tree,
Both measure time’s
Passing differently,
The clock’s face is
Simple and stark,
Above a memorial to the
Dead who made the park,
Which used to be ocean
Before it was filled,
And during that work
The men were killed...

Micro-Risk

Between the bed and the door,
There’s always a chance to
Slip, and fall to the floor,
I know this because
It’s happened before...

Almost Done

At last it’s here
The sunshine of
The final day of the year

Distortion

Things can bend or shift,
And change the way it’s going,
Sometimes all subtle like,
Achieved without our knowing,
They warp in the direction
The fateful wind is blowing...

Signals

Sometimes your eyes
Will reveal,
What you will not show,
But really feel...

Companion

Small wonder at the family
Feel of a dinner plate,
Off of which, for so
Many years, we ate...

冬至

It will dim, then disappear,
Light of the shortest day,
Into the longest night of the year...

Shimbashi Station, 07:48 AM

All dark coats and ties
Out from the station
The salary-men march
In a quiet formation
Intense, indentured to
The business of their nation

Tiny Lives

Two sparrows perched on the
Branch of a winter tree
Feathers ruffled by the wind
I wonder what they see...

Relax

Some things are going to happen,
Can’t be stopped, no place to hide,
So the best thing to do, is just
Sit back, and enjoy the ride....

The Swamp

The winning politician,
Loves the power and perks
Of his elected post,
And thereafter works
More cleverly than most,
Does whatever it takes.
Crises are weathered,
Rants, blusters, fakes,
To keep his nest feathered...

Here And Now

My seconds and minutes spent
In the moment, unnoticed,
Flow in the background, ambient...

Camouflage

Powders and chemicals
Carefully applied
Over the places
Where liver spots hide

Retail Queen

She does her best
To turn back time
And perfectly dressed
She walks in the Mall
Not shopping at all
You know what I mean
Her outfit is expensive
She wants to be seen

All Plugged Up

Sniffling and sneezing,
Young and old,
Caught in the grip
Of the common cold,
Drowning in snot,
They know for sure,
That science has yet
To find a cure...

Unenlightened

The brightness is
More far than near,
I come to realize
Sitting here,
Waiting for the
Clouds to clear...

Meow

Hunt, sleep, eat,
And this, and that,
The curious life
Of a cat...

When It Happens

Sometimes, ideas
Come in a rush,
Other times,
Brain is mush...

Salon de Espoir

Window display aquarium,
Empty, lifeless, dry,
Someone put it there,
But for what, and why,
A shop front puzzle
For those who walk by...

Post-TransPac

Jet-lagged, around midnight,
My body does not know
What is wrong or right,
Or the give and take
Of time zones, so I lie,
Non-dreaming & awake... 

Historical

The Romans lost control,
And Europe was overrun,
By waves of babarians:
Goth, Mongol, and Hun,
Civilization corrupted,
Trumpified, undone,
And order not restored
Until the invention of the gun...

Empty Bottles

Buzz alert
Now and here
As long as
There is beer

Forager

Blue gray winter sky
Junco hops among weeds
And grass now brown gold
Seeking a small feast of seeds...

Marketing Madness

Continuous, overwhelming,
Commercials on T.V.,
Urging sales and
Consumption, relentlessly...

Fleeting Pleasures

Enjoy the good things
While they last
For all too soon
They’re in the past

Flow

Up from the ground
And through the air
Energy coming
From everywhere...

Uninvited Guest

The birds look down
At their seeds
Where the squirrel feeds...

Fate Of Fossil Fuel

Oil-fed cars driven
Around the suburban sprawl,
On fun trips and errands,
Before the big fall,
Automobile Nation
Causing its own suffocation...

Liquor Is Quicker

Teenage rite of passage
Pass the vodka bottle around
Temporary joy & euphoria
Then puking on the ground

Migrant Caravan

A long journey has led
To this place, and a wall,
No going back, no way ahead,
No roof above, no hope at all...

Red Base

To those of us undereducated,
Under-appreciated,
What could be more sweet,
Than to screw with the elite...

Misperceived

The games politicians play,
Seem harmless, when
Viewed from far away...

Fallen Sky

Since when did things become
Uncertain, all gone, the normal,
Not knowing, being numb,
Now left with a growing fear
Of what might happen here...

Giant Bonsai

Upturned spider pine tree
Huge in its 300th year,
Grown so wide since
Someone planted it here,
Poses above the selfies,
Indifferent, and shimmers
In an autumn breeze...

Ex-Samurai Garden

Sun warms my back,
As, wind-blown, I hunch
Wordless, thoughtlessly,
Over a bento box lunch...

Cold Flowers

Staring at the yellow,
Blooming in front of me,
I’m lost in that yellow,
Momentarily,
Sipping sesame
Barley tea...

The War To End All Wars

One hundred years since the
End of World War One,
Seems pretty trivial now
About who lost or won,
Barbed wire and bones
Of English, Germans, French,
And all the others who
Expired in the trench,
A whole generation lost
In mud, blood, and stench....

Evanescent

Morning, after the rain,
Mist over the rice field,
Hints of the night remain,
I’m aware of this moment,
Fleeting, iridescent,
Like something imagined,
Something dreamt...

Adversarial

Them and us,

Fighting over

Something frivolous,

Argument 

Seethes and spins,

Neither side

Wins...

Navel Gazer

Turns out the mountain
Dwelling mystic,
Is not wise or holy,
Just solipsistic...

渋谷ハロウィン

We’re off to Shibuya Crossing
Dressed as mugs of beer,
Along with all the others,
Costumes far and near,
Then into the izakaya
Eats, drinks, and laughter,
And the noisy silliness
Which follows thereafter...

Angel Of Connection

Magical messenger,
Metal, plastic, silicone,
So much more than
Just a telephone,
It’s me, the most
Valuable thing I own...

One Way To Do It

Get as much as
You can take,
Ignore the news
Just call it fake,
Don’t look back
Or step on the brake,
The power you have
Is the power you make...

All Saints & Souls

Spirits arrive,
Here and there,
But why?
And from where?

Sleeper

Quiet as the dead
The ghost waits
Under the bed

Afternoon Haunting

Forgotten, eerie

Porch display,

Recorded Halloween

Cackles play,

Electric Jack o’lantern 

Middle of the day...

Circus

Inside my head
They swarm
Like a 3-ring circus
They perform
Thoughts and memories
Behind my eyes
Then gone
Before I realize

Pavement Noise

The dull roar of
Vehicle tires
Lessens as the
Day expires...

Died During Construction

Old monument

Edged with moss,

Commemorates

Forgotten loss...

御神輿

Portable shrine bouncing on shoulders,
Carry a god around our neighborhood,
The god sees what there is to see,
Returns to shrine, and all is good...

So Many Guns

Typical street, nighttime America,
Flashing lights after shots are fired,
Need to be wary, concealed carry,
Head on swivel, caution required,
It is what it is, chaos ascendant,
Civility and tolerance expired...

From The North

Starlings and seahawks
Autumn wind blows
Brown leaves swirling
Sparrows and crows

Fan Photo

Desire and longing mesh
Into love for an image
Of once young flesh...

This Is America

Trying to state our opinions,
Make intentions clear,
But the screaming's too
Loud, and we cannot hear...

The Human Condition

The need to fill the void,
Too hard to ignore, or dismiss,
And so we are inclined
To jump into the abyss...

Hidden

A Tokyo midnight scene,
Lights below, moon above,
Stars nowhere to be seen...

Tokyo Garden

Concrete, steel, glass,
Skyscrapers loom
Over the trees and the grass...

In Memorium

Medals for those
Returned from the war
For the others it
Doesn’t matter anymore...

Couch Surfing

While-away a working day
In a prone position,
Doesn’t matter, it’s OK,
I’ve found a different
Path, a better way,
Float as the lights
And moments interplay...

No Exit

Scar on the side of his head
Where they might have cut his brain
The idiot talks to himself while
Wandering around the train
Wary commuters watch
The spectacle of the insane...

Somewhere In Spain

The furious bull
Charges straight ahead,
Misses the matador,
And then he's dead...

山伏

World-be hermit
Climbs the mountainside,
Where he can think,
And hide,
Live off what
The forest will provide...

Daily meditation,
Sometimes
Mortification...

That Noise Above

Scavenger chatting as they fly
Squadrons of Starlings
Swarm an Autumn sky...

Buzz Kill

Emerged from drunk caves
Pretty people of the night
Stumble around in the
Early morning light...

Q&A

He asks how
This ends
She says
It all depends

竜頭蛇尾

Off to a great start
But thereafter
Things fell apart...

Retail Fail

The dying shopping mall,
Once vibrant and proud,
Ruling an empty parking lot,
Can hardly attract a crowd,
Bored employees take
Long breaks and naps,
While oldsters in sneakers
Walk continuous laps,
Around the floors
And across the square
Where plants gather dust
From the dull dead air...

Typhoon Party

The rain pours down
White squall, wet,
And the typhoon hasn’t
Even come here yet,
Hunkered down
In whispers we speak,
Hoping the walls hold
And the roof doesn’t leak,
Pass around bottles
Of sweet rum and gin,
And wait for the weather
Theatrics to begin...

赤ちゃん

A thing which
Mothers know well
The magical goodness
Of a baby’s smell

Chicxulub

Cretaceous end-game
Comet descends,
Dinosaurs never knew
"This is when it ends"...

乾杯のあと

Sometimes it is all
About the libation
And its much needed
Gift of inebriation...

Fallow Ones

These are the good days
Out in the pasture
Where we graze
Ruminating memories
In a cocktail haze

Can’t Go Back

What’s in the past,
Never mind,
It’s something
Left behind,
Lots of nothing
There to find...

Spike The Punchbowl

Hosted by her department head
Office party drudgery
Night of the living dead...

Play With Blocks

In Twenty-first century movies
Lego blocks act and perform
And somehow that is
Accepted as a norm
Colorful bits of plastic
Posture, emote, and bestorm

Scary Blue Planet

They came to Earth
From outer space,
To take a look
Around at the place,
And once they
Learned and understood,
Frightened, they zoomed
Away for good...

Old Fight

What Marines did, 100 years ago,
Dimly remembered, understood,
So distant the bloody business,
In the French forest, Belleau Wood...

Avians

Bird at sunrise
Cries and cries,
Nighttime bird
Won’t say a word...

Hippie Advice

So distracted
But remember this
Keep on trucking
And follow your bliss

Camphor Tree

Towering over an ancient shrine
The sentient tree
Senses but cannot see
Its life force permeates
The cool holy air
It creates

秋分の迫り

In the bushes
Under the rocks
Insects retreat
From the Equinox

Pre-Coffee

Paused and blanked
I slowly exhale
Inside my head
A moderate gale

Just Do It

Expectations limited, low,
Laws of statistics apply,
No point in giving up,
One can only try...

Feeling As Medicine

Love is powerful
Emotional dreadnought
Stifles hate
Overcomes a lot
Never loses
Or so I thought...

To The Source Of The Nile

Into the wasteland, went I,
An adventurer,
With a full pack,
Strong and sure,
But then I got lost,
The rest is a blur...

Dream Logic

Follow your dream,
What will be, will be,
Or so it may seem...

Teflon

Bullet dodged
No need to hurry
Problem deflected
Not to worry...

茄子

The eggplant is purple,
Firm and lush,
But when cooked,
Turns into mush...

Summer In Tokyo

Sweat drip humidity,
Sun shines so hard it hurts,
Legions of clones in short
Sleeve collared shirts,
All wearing dark pants,
Scurry from shadow to
Shadow, worker ants...

Indelible

Past mistakes recalled
With remorse, regret,
May have been forgiven
But never can forget

The Mechanism

Things run according
To unwritten laws
Gears grinding turning
Each effect with its cause

Invisibles

Radio waves launched from antennae,
Flying quietly through the air,
Spirits of the Internet, touching
All the connected, everywhere...

Over There

Dried and hot, where I sit,
Distant cloud dropping rain,
Cooling things there for a bit...

石碑

On a forgotten forest path,
The marker stands alone,
An attempt to capture
The past, in a stone,
Chiseled words weathered
No longer can be read,
Their story lost with the
Writers now long dead...

Urban Sprawl

Driveways dividing
The viridis
Dwindling shopping malls
Suburban bliss
Gasoline-fed
A land of plenty
Parking lot vistas
Running on empty...

Starflyer

A woman sitting comfortably, in peace,
She is a "Starflyer" proclaims the ad,
Which I glance at, thinking that must
Be something nice to be had,
With me nosed-up to the poster,
On a crowded morning train,
Looking at her, and trying to
Ignore the boredom and pain...

Sunset Walk In Heisei-Cho

Sultry golden August dusk,
Housewife walking with a scoop
Pulled by her dog, she waits
For the canine to poop,
So she can go back home,
And the dog can sleep,
Unthinking, immersed
In the habits they keep... 

Olongapo 1981

The place where
Lust and desires mesh
Into a market for
Feel-good and flesh
Bedazzled by neon
The rock music plays
Streets sell pleasure
In a thousand ways
The place where
It sometime seems
That money can fix
The broken dreams
Of the workers trapped
In the peddling schemes

盆栽

It continues to grow
To be tall and free
But it’s choked by wires
The Bonsai tree
Stunted in bondage
Indefinitely...

Dizzy Spell

When fear and
Euphoria interbred,
Atmospheric disturbance
Inside my head...

Momentary

Drifting, floating,
Not saying a word,
Fleeting minutes,
Edges blurred...

横須賀 砲台

Old concrete, on which
Weeds and shadows play,
Built for a cannon to
Defend Tokyo Bay,
But couldn’t keep
The barbarians away...

Next Time Send Robots

Humans launched a
Mission to Mars,
Finest technology
Flown up to the stars,
But as it turned out
Things didn't work,
Because the crewmembers
Went berserk...

Homer's Joke

Greeks and Trojans fight,
Epically, on the shore,
Over a pretty woman,
Nothing more...

Hate

Despite what you might hear,
Hate grows not out of truth,
But rather, out of fear,

An inability to forgive,
Closed, jealous, a
Refusal to live and let live...

Weather

The storm wasn’t caused
By anger or despair
Just collisions of
Different types of air

Life's A Gamble

Old man time
Never forgets
Always comes by
To collect on bets

Time Heals

Disappointment
Takes a while to dissipate
You have to shake it off
You have to wait...

Kudzu

Vines snake up and
Out of the ground,
Climbing, clinging,
They choke and surround,
Til there’s nothing
But green death around...

Insurance

No free lunch
No guarantees
And even monkeys
Fall from trees

Mother Freedom

Freedom, bought with money and
A legacy from those who fought and died,
Is the basis for peace and normalcy,
No need to dissemble or hide,
Also provides the luxury of not
Being forced to choose a side...

Old Shopping Street

Rain from the typhoon pours
Quenching the thirst of
Weeds by shuttered stores

Nadashio + 30

Old man looks at the waves
Where the tragedy occurred
Memories the monument saves
He wants his son’s death
To be remembered, yet,
There is an equal part of
Him which wants to forget,
But the stone memorial
Will stolidly ensure
The losses of that unlucky
Day mutely endure...

Fine Dining

Keeping things simple,
And feeling fine,
With a good ham sandwich
And a bottle of wine...

剣道の音

Kendo screams from a window,
Above the quiet avenue,
Killing simulated samurai,
With swords made of bamboo...

Snooze

When snared in an
Overtime trap,
And much too tired,
Just take a nap...

Summer High Pressure

Hot air from
Somewhere over Tibet,
Isn’t done with its
Sweltering yet,
No rain, no clouds
In the tired sky,
Broiling days
In a humid July...

No Finish Line

The race was won,
But she continued
To run...

Out of the
Stadium,
Up the hill,
Where she is
Running still...

Rumination

Lost in thought,
Yet to be found,
Happens a lot...

Mid-July Morning

Summer clouds billow
Without a sound,
While insects emerge
From the ground...

Your Choice

Tired of the boring
Life you live?
Well then,
Find the alternative...

Western Japan, 06-08 July 2018

The killer rain
Starts as a few drops
Then turns into a deluge
Which never stops
Until after the flood
And unlucky innocents
Drowned in the mud
From a ravaging stream
And no one could
Hear them scream

50 Years Later

The 1960s
Were all about,
Turning on
And tuning out,

Much different now
Some may claim,
But basically things
Are still the same,
It’s just a much
Faster, furious, game...

Not As It Appears

Assumed to be dumb,
But in reality
Just numb...

Fake News

The young and loud ones,
Posture on the political stage,
Repeat past mistakes and
Argue, insult, engage,
While the old man watches
The T.V. in a quiet rage...

Homeless At Home

Sharing a wine bottle
With Country Bob,
Who's lived here since
He lost his factory job,
Here, where we camp,
Chaotic and free,
Under a highway ramp,
Getting high, invisibly...

Matriarchy

Humans in the ancient days,
Learned, that life on Earth,
Was dependent on their
Women giving birth,
Children pushed out from
Their loins, a revival,
New lives to ensure the
Hunter clan's survival...

Rainbow

Parade on the street
In the hinterland,
Gay ones waving and
Marching hand-in-hand,
Their love condemned
As contraband,
Queers face the haters,
And make their stand...

High Pressure System

Keening through the window seams
Wind whooshes away my dreams,
And, now awake, I lie,
Listening to it moan and sigh...

Wait

If I’m quiet
And sit
It will come
In a bit...

Lack Of Content

52 inch
4K T.V.,
But not much
To see...

Fashion

Nakedness is forbidden,
So under textiles
It is hidden...

Goal!

Something breaks open inside
Tears flow, spirits soar,
Total release and euphoria
After the overtime score...

Delight Rest Station

It’s good enough to rest
Among the commercial goods,
With polyethylene plants,
Taken from the plastic woods,
Placed all around the
Area for healing tired feet,
Where I sit, watching and
Waiting for what to meet...

海釣り公園

Fisherman in a quiet trance
Stares at the waters of the bay,
Casts his line out now and again
Doesn’t catch anything all day,
Fisherman in peace of mind
He could find no other way...

Shinjuku Park

Pinks, blues, colors of
Spring hydrangeas keep,
By the blue vinyl sheets
Where homeless sleep...

Chance

In the end,
Our lives align,
With what the
Fates assign...

Hidden

Certain thoughts which
In one’s memory hide
Are better left
Asleep and inside

The Way It Goes

An evening buzzed and beery
Next morning hurt and bleary

The Longest Day

Solstice dawn
Insistent cries
Of solitary bird
The only thing heard...

Life As A Battle

Sometimes you have to
Fight, give it your all,
Wade into the mix,
Bare fists, hard ball,
No retreat, like Caesar's
Conquest of Gaul...

Where Is My Daughter?

Half empty bag of diapers clutched by a
Stunned woman from south of the border,
Her child ripped away by the uniformed ones
In the name of national law and order...

This sad and bitter action
Will someday end, when
That country is,
Great again...

Ignored

The lessons of history,
It is generally agreed,
Are written in books
We never read...

Mellow Days

Can’t be bothered
Can’t be fired
The simple joy of
Being retired...

Parallel Slumber

Solstice week
Restful night
Quiet bleak
Everyone asleep
In a peace their
Snores will keep

Dismalland

Splendid Friday morning
Thronging in a Disney dream
Myriad Asian faces all
Variations on a common theme

Weather Motion

Water as rainfall
Having been sent
Clouds rode the winds
And away they went

Home For The Elderly

The nice assisted living
Room, a placeholder,
For those who will
Not get much older...

Change Of Air

Open the windows
Let the breeze flow through
Stale rooms feel
Fresh and new

梅雨前線

All humid green alive
Under cement-colored sky
Waiting for rain season to arrive

Post Repast

Enjoy the pleasure
Of drinking an eating
Exquisite it feels
But oh so fleeting...

Going Nowhere

Staring out his windshield,
His look is empty, void,
Perhaps he's tired, bored,
Or something nice got destroyed...

Impossible to tell,
All stuck in traffic,
In our car-built hell...

Weather On Thursday

Rain swept morning
Cool evaporation
And an expectation
Of thunder in
The afternoon
Air explosions on
A day gone too soon

Education In America

Brand new barbed wire
Glimmers under the sun,
Meant to defend us,
And teacher’s got a gun...
Bag check at the entry,
Because that is the rule,
To protect us from some
Random shooting fool,
Keep the compound safe,
Welcome to my school...

A Lesson

Come too late to discern
Her anger’s roots in love
Live and learn...

Berthed

The old ship at the pier
Makes a humming noise
Longing for the seas
Beyond the channel buoys

Fujisawa Terrace Mall

Enjoy the banal joys
A cloudy weekday brings
Trapped in the fun house
Made by the others running things...

Wrong Impression

He thought what
He saw in her eyes
Was wide open
Joy and surprise
But it wasn’t and
Hence his demise...

Wear And Tear

Start the day, inspired,
Hope it lasts before
The lights expired,

Conviction,
Enthusiasm, reduced
By friction...

What Comes Next

Pray and hope
For come what may
Hunker and cope
With come what will

From The Sky

When the rain
Is water, vice bombs,
Much less pain...

Victory dropped
By the air force plane

Conscientious Sniper

The secret to staying sane
Is to not look at the face,
Just squeeze the trigger
At the body moving in space...

Aisle 3, Canned Goods

Here life has led me,
This is who I am,
Circling in the market
Pushing a pram...

Hangover

Random dude, out on the couch,
Pizza bits stuck on ceiling & rafter,
Half-full cups of beer, some underwear,
Reminders of fun, the morning after...

Endless

A sick thing happened to me,
Almost broke my brain
Thinking about infinity...

Dues

One always
Ends up paying,
No free lunch,
Goes without saying...

Mind Storm

Thoughts, memories,
Swirl and scatter,
Out of control,
But doesn’t matter,
The drama
Inside my head,
While lying alone
In bed...

Day’s Arrival

Very early

Quiet and still

Not really ready for

Come what will...

Early Nebraska

Survivor of a winter,
Cold and cruel,
Acres of labor,
A hard working mule...

He prays to his god,
Farmer on prairie,
In a house made of sod...

引きこもり

The things outside
Of his door,
He doesn’t want
To deal with anymore,
So he chooses
To hide,
In a sort of
Peace, inside...

Tully’s On A Monday

Paused
Over coffee,
Peace
Momentarily,
Caffeine,
Epiphany...

Too Late

The planet’s health
Is on the brink,
“Not my problem”
One might think,
Till things go dark
And start to stink...

Commuter

Transit, en route,
On foot, in trains,
Feet start hurting
Energy drains,
But forward we
Slog, run, ride,
To the beds
Where we reside...

Brief Attraction

Company singles mixer
Mating signals sent
Blending with the music
Ambiguous, ambient
A fleeting chance for love
Then away it went...

Micro Peace

Blue moon
Quiet night
Just for a moment
Everything’s all right

Precursor

Late-April Hydrangea
New leaves golden green
Its pale blue blossoms
Still unseen

23 April 2018, Toronto, Canada

When a fragile, invisible
Line is crossed,
And altruism,
Self control, is lost,
Freedom as chaos
Tallies a bloody cost...

He stomps on the gas pedal
And what follows are the
Sounds of bones hit by metal...

Post-Frozen Burrito

Unable to meditate
Let alone concentrate
Declare defeat
It must've been something I ate...

Closing Distance

A thing of fear
Seemed so distant
Never near
But things move on
And now it's here...

Alternative

Unlike for commuters
Rushed and stressed
Monday is my
Day of rest

Gerontology 101

It is a little something,
A lesson, one learns,
About the flow of time,
And diminishing returns...

Along With Death

Tax payments sent
Into the mail today
Feels like part of
Me bitten away...

Kneeled In Springtime

Peace and sweat in the
Garden, attacking weeds,
Is all the meaning of
Life he really needs...

Temporary Solution

Finally done dealing
With a busy day’s mess
The third cold beer
Numbing the stress
And it’s all good for
Now, more or less...

Diet Logic

Release the thin
Person who’s
Trapped within

AEON Mall Courtyard

Breath in, breath out,
Stay calm in the midst
Of everything about

Breath out, breath in,
Balance while
The others spin

Seated and still
Wait until
Something will...

Gift

What she got
Was what could
Not be bought

It Happens

Rain falls
Wind blows
Mind wanders
I suppose
Light fades
Time flows
Can’t remember
So it goes
Tomorrow
Never knows...

End Of March

Spring breeze
White pink petal snow
Falling from cherry trees

Sweden’s Curse

How much do I hate shopping,
Let me count the ways,
Foot tired and trapped
In the IKEA maze...

Early In March

Late winter Yokosuka
A green bush abides
Down among its stalks
A Daffodil hides

AM

Slumber harbor
Four thirty AM null
Wake up
Cries the gull

Ungiven Gift

Waiting on the holy thing we’ve
Worshiped from years ago,
Nothing has been sent, but
When it comes we will know...

Hard To Ignore

Worry never disappears because
It pushes a button in the brain
Marked: "Buzz"

Calendar Magic?

Way back when, some genius thought
To give each day a name,
Labeling the revolutions which
Seemed too much the same,
Too anonymous, ephemeral,
And so in those times of old,
The names were assigned to
Harness what can't be controlled...

Fleeting Glory

Game-ending minutes

Feeling excited and tense

But it will all evaporate

A few hours hence

Veterans Hospital

Old, fat, in peace,
He thinks back on the war
Knows that things haven’t changed,
Wonders what it was for,
All that desperate bloody
Effort holds no meaning anymore...

Driving In Low Gear

The under-appreciated joy of
Being deliberately lazy,
Gliding through a slow day’s
Minutes, unfocused and hazy,
No need for drugs,
It’s just a natural high
Being able to love
Each moment which goes by...

Somewhere North Of Damascus

Refugee center destroyed during
Government forces advance
Lost souls whisper “We had no
Choice, we never had a chance”
Ghosts in the rubble where the
Toxic war flames dance...

Agincourt

Unhorsed, shot with arrows,
I lie in the mud and bleed,
Curse the English, and watch
The crows descend to feed...

Glittering knights, the glory
Of France, lie broken in piles,
Mud-metal, gore, and noble names
On the list the Reaper files...

In The Shadows

Wait until the dark
Arrives where light has been
That’s when the special
Things can begin...

Numb

Drifting in the void
Caused by
Love destroyed

Nature’s Call

Spring wind today
And out on the bay
Visitors from the North
Tern and Loon
Will be leaving soon...

Prometheus

Here I sit, chained to the granite,
Yeah, it's me, the fire-giver,
Waiting for a day's eagle
To fly down and eat my liver,
The inevitable pain, repeated
Every bloody afternoon,
On a god's orders, and I
Bear it all until I swoon
Into a dream, where men
Of Earth sooth and embrace,
Warm me with the gentle
Heat of their fireplace...

Above The Seaside Picnic Ground

Mistaking it for meat,
Seahawk goes free-fall,
Dive-bombing on
A bouncing tennis ball,
Then swoops back up,
Disappointment, fright,
Almost colliding
With a kite...

Dry

Drizzly parking lot

Glistening and flat

Underneath a car

A sleeping cat...

The Truth Is Out There

Some folks are predisposed
To believe in the
Existence of UFO’s
Visiting from a planet
Beyond the Sun
And landing in
Area Fifty One
Where the aliens
Stealthy and out of sight
Kidnap humans
In the dark of night...

All Is Vanity

Sometimes “changed”
Is simply the same
Things rearranged...

Survival

Out of the storm
Among the shoppers
I am dry and warm

No other place
To live
I take what comfort
Retail can give

I pray the Mall
My soul to keep
Toilets, water, and
A chair to sleep

Pacification

Magically coming to rest
The baby's screaming stops
Suckling on mother's breast

Aerodynamic

"As the crow flies"
Is never a straight line,
It is all over the skies...

Basho

On north narrow road
A poet walks alone
Much much later
His haiku carved in stone

時代劇

Her face on the screen
Haunts me, brought to
Life by a video machine,
And knowing this, still
For her beauty I long,
Which, except for
The electrons, is gone...

商店街

Rusty Yokosuka shopping street,

Idling at the bus stop,

Clanging shop shutters raised,

Tinny speakers play Japanese pop...

The Writer

Lucid, cogent,
When he thinks.
But more inspired
After drinks...

Driving South From Denver

Sun appears to sink,
Behind snowy mountains,
Clouds overhead turn gold, then pink

On The Pond

The waterfowl glides
Across the water, serene,
Its panicked paddling
Below, unseen...

Valentine’s Day 2018

I pulled the lever
Setting off the alarm,
AR-15, locked & loaded,
Ready to do harm,
What followed, to me,
Was like a video game,
Shooting you as a target,
Not knowing your name,
Or the others, all victims
Of my anger and shame...

Party’s Over

A rare happy event,
That chance will send,
Occasionally, and you
Don’t want it to end

Beer Zen

No need to go out
Just watch and wait
Embrace the null  of
One’s chemically altered state

Decision Point

Now and then
It’s better to stop
And start things over again
The key point
Is knowing when

Memorial

A big stone keeps
Memories in chiseled words,
On top, a stray cat sleeps

Consequences

Sometimes you just
Need to be strong
Suck it up and
Admit you were wrong
Then deal with what
Comes after it’s done
Retreat from the battle
Till the war is won...

Relief

Among the jolts a day can bring
The absence of pain
Is the very best thing

Supermarket Inspiration

Among the radishes and beets
Dreaming-up a verse
Grandpa in the produce aisle
Things would be worse

Sunday Afternoon

Lie very still
Float in a void
For dreams to fill

佐野八幡

Past the Torii gate
The absence of sound
In the Shrine yard
Is stark and profound
Spirit wind whispers
Across the holy ground

Equestrian

The cavalry comes over the hill
Charging with sabres
As cavalries will
On horses oblivious
To who they kill...

Humpty Dumpty

Back to the nice way
Things were before
Time can repair
But not restore
Pieced together
With patience glue
But the cracks
Still show through

Somewhere In Switzerland

A place called Davos
Is where they come to meet
The rich, the entitled,
The economic elite,
Preening in the empty light
Of each others’ stars,
To me, they might
As well be on Mars...

Eternal Life

As a memory
In some other’s head,
Is how you will exist,
After you are dead...

引きこもり

The fifteen steps
Down the hallway,
To the bathroom,
Are a price I pay
To my bladder, bowels,
Forcing me away
From my protective room,
In which, every day,
I am safe, and have
No desire to stray
Outdoors, ever, no
Matter what others say...

In The Granite

Stones oblivious
To love or loss
Sit there anyway
Covered with moss...

(Photograph by Pete & Erica Jeffrey)

Hanging Garden

Greening the gray,
They bloom and enthrall,
Plants in the cracks
Of a cut-stone wall...

Tune Out

Fake news,
People arguing
Opposing views,
TVs vomiting
Media splatter,
Just turn it off,
It doesn’t matter...

Afterlife

Off the hamster-wheel
And unlike before
Mondays have
No meaning anymore
Rat-race observed
From a distant shore...

Instinct

Somehow
Small animals know
About the approach
Of storm and snow...

Transition

On this cold clear night,
A crescent moon winks,
At all of us below, as its
Silver smile shrinks...

Night Zone

Activity ends
Birds go quiet
As darkness descends

Right Before February

Mutsuki morning,
Cloudy, bleak,
Covering the Sun
The Daffodils seek...

Gastrorific

Nothing alters more one’s mood
Than an encounter with
Some delicious food...

Bottom Line

What we really think,
We cannot always say,
Unlike the rich,
Who can pay to play...

The Way It Happens

Sometimes the best
Things a day can confer,
Have no reason,
They simply occur,
And the rest
Is just a blur...

Smart Birds’ Demise

Bitter cold in Saitama,
Black dots on the snow,
Each one a frozen crow,

No food to eat
Unable to fly
Crows at their end
Under a leaden sky...

Get Up Get Ready

Early morning
Round about five
The apartment building
Comes alive
Pipes pop and sigh
With flow and flush
As plebeians prepare
For a hard day’s rush

Different Strokes

Some folks will persevere
If given enough hope
Others will deorbit
If given enough rope

It Wasn’t New

History, you will find,
Is simply things
Repeated, recombined...