Art by Mark Harm Niemeyer

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Sand Through Fingers

Sobering to realize
How it went,
Priceless time
Wastefully spent,
Present rotting
Steadily into past,
Hubris to think
That it could last...

Seen on the News

Mad theater in Washington,
Emotes and unspools,
Oligarchs and lawyers,
April fools...

Sunday, March 23, 2025

啓蟄

The return of Spring
Not just about plants,
Or flowers, but also
Appearance of ants,
And the other insects
Which green resurrects...

Marriage

Yes, of course, my dear,
Eternally yours,
With love (and fear)...

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Optional

To be, or not to be,
A stark choice,
Or useless sophistry...?

Wallflower

She mainly wanted
To be left alone,
With her thoughts
And a smart phone,
Carefully preserving
Her safety bubble,
Human connections
Just too much trouble...

Friday, March 21, 2025

土曜日の朝

Roll out of bed, and
Balance -- steady, steady,
What? How can it be
A Saturday already,
Rub eyes, shaking head
Summoning some pain,
The dregs of last night's
Bacchanalia remain,
Bathroom, then kitchen,
A new day must begin,
But first thing fortify with
Coffee and aspirin...

Office Haiku

The challenges a workday sends,
How to handle them,
Well, that all depends...

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Somewhere Near Kursk

Isolated, surrounded, recognizing
The hopeless situation he's in,
Being taken prisoner not an option,
So, he reaches deep within,
For the strength, and with a sigh
Of resignation, pulls the pin...

Monday, March 17, 2025

Saint Paddy's Day

What have we here?
Shots of Jameson,
Cold green beer,
This, our crazy day
Of Irish cheer,
Drink until the
Leprechauns appear...

ADHD

Some of us
Step lighter,
And the flame
Burns brighter,
Can't stay quiet,
Can't keep still,
Just run ahead to 
Where what will...

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Moments at The Surfrider

Jet-lag-sedated in a wicker rocking chair,
Lazy-gazing, bemused and transfixed,
At the colorful tropical human
Cocktail, being stirred and mixed,
By the common urge to roam within,
The veteran colonnaded lobby, full
Of various shades of untanned skin,
Bulging T-shirt, flowered dress,
All aloha-urged toward their leisure,
In the Trade Winds' caress,
Hurry, the luau drums starting,
Hibiscus, pork, and mindlessness...
- - - - -
(Note: This is a revised version of a poem written on May 17, 2012)

Thursday, March 13, 2025

INCEL

Few things are more
Dangerous in life,
Than an angry, lonely
Man with a knife...

Solitary, un-loved,
He eventually kills,
His pain exploding
As random blood spills...

Group Panic

Bird screaming, suddenly,
Starlings launch up
From the tree...

Then, based on something
They mysteriously learn,
The Starlings, to a different
Tree, circle, and return...

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Why

I sometimes wonder,
Where and when,
I feel happiness,
Now and then...

Friday, March 7, 2025

Gray Matter

From where comes the
Instinct to flee or fight,
Or the urge to create,
To paint, to write,
All of it comes from
Somewhere deep inside,
Our uncharted brains.
Where gods reside...

Theater

I get the feeling, sometimes,
That my life is like a show,
Whether it's high drama, or dark
Comedy, I do not know...

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Grandpa's Leg

Small grandchild hugging
My leg, looks above,
At me, with happy eyes,
Unconditional love...

So precious, such
Small innocent trust,
But evanescent,
For change it must,
As I can only 
Protect so long,
And the child must
Grow hard and strong...

TMI

The hell with this crap,
Turn the thing off,
Go take a nap...

Destabilization

Something's off, confused
Unsettled air,
Of which she's only
Slightly, dimly aware,
Her mind in a state
Of mild disrepair...

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Brew

First gulp of cold beer
Refreshes, always does,
Those thereafter diminish,
But enjoy the buzz...

Modern Society

The priceless luxury
Of being alive,
And not having to
Struggle to survive,
Lucky to dwell
In a welfare state,
While others face
A more dismal fate...

Our Gift

A compassionate curse
The creator gods sent,
By making us
Man apes sentient...

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Counter-culture

Hippie wisdom's legacy,
Drop out and vegetate,
Merge with music, in a
Chemically altered state,
Always feed the munchies,
And medicate...

春近よる

Rain and bluster,
South winds bring,
Winter receding,
Arrival of Spring...