和

Backstreet bar in Shinjuku,

We are like foreigner fools,

Adrift in a country, where,

Everyone follows rules,

Inherited, from long ago,

Rules to establish harmony,

The invisible "Wa", which

We, outsiders, may never see...

Unsatisfactory

Both parents work, and

Just cannot be there,

In their empty home, full of

Lower middle-class air,

Their toddlers raised by

Strangers in day care,

Such being the state of

A modern family affair...

雑草

After April rains, and the

Green grows fiercely, fast,

Surging, clinging, covering

All, a verdant biological blast…

Coping Technique

Neither surrender nor succumb,

To the social madness, rather

Be watchful, quiet, numb…

Countermeasure

Outside was a bit too

Chaotic, unsettled, uncertain,

So, she closed the door

And pulled the curtain...

Maybe with a new day,

All the mess will

Somehow go away...

Seeker

Want to be a philosopher?

Well, give it a try,

Look at everyday things,

And start asking “Why?”…

最終電車

Springtime Tokyo,

Cold night rain,

Sleeping salaryman,

Slumped on the train…

Suddenly

Life administered a

Pop-quiz, a test,

Thereafter, scrambled,

Improvised, stressed,

But now it's solved,

Now we can rest...

右翼

This day, the anniversary of Japan's war

Defeat, right-wingers’ trucks, cruising around,
Blaring old martial music, and filling the
Summer day with their angry nationalist sound,
Trying to resurrect, I suppose, lost pride and glory,
And Imperial lust, best left buried in the ground,

They honor, in a nasty noisy way, the Shrine

Where the warrior souls are bound…

(Revision of a poem written on August 10, 2013)

酒の力

With the first glass,

Man drinks wine,

All good and fine,

With the second glass, 

The wine drinks the wine,

Fun minutes pass,

But savor the buzz,

While one can,

For third glass of wine

Will drink the man...

Safe Haven

Always watching,

Eyes in the sky,

It's so hard to hide,

But we try,

Carry our small

Ones underground,

Now silent,

Unseen, unfound...

交通事故

Too much speed,

Lost control,

Last thing seen

Was a telephone pole,

Purgatory welcomes

Another soul…

Spontaneous

Wave my fist,

For all to see,

Ignore, for now,

The futility,

Curse the 

Inevitability…

Visitor

Small spindly green figure,

Big head, oval eyes,

It scans me closely, but

Is gone before I realize,

A being, perhaps, from

Somewhere beyond the Sun,

Now disappeared, someplace,

In Area Fifty One…

Unrecoverable

Moped taillight moving away

From where I watch it,

Up on a condominium 

Balcony, silently I sit,

And that little red light,

Down on the dark street,

Fades away, carrying

A rider I will never meet…

Reset

Cursed is the tendency 

To mope and fret,

Healthier is the ability

To simply forget…

Good Morning

Roll off bed, stretch,

A new day’s start,

Big yawn, rub eyes,

Belch and fart,

Drink coffee strong

Enough to raise the dead,

Gird loins for

The crazy day ahead…

春の色

White-pink cherry blossom

Petals, fallen on the ground,

Now multi-shades of

Green, emerging all around...

Soon colors of Azaleas and

Hydrangeas will abound,

White. pink, magenta, and

Blue they will bring,

Those magical, transient,

Flowers of Spring...

常識

After a long while,

You learn

When to smile,

And keep your

Mouth shut,

No if, and, or but...

Our Current Reality

I sometimes wonder why,

It's become normal & accepted

To bloviate and lie,

Finding truth becoming

Too hard to try,

Media and demagogues

Selling pie in the sky...

Loss Of Control

Sometimes smiles

And laughter hide,

Harder feelings

Which burn inside,

In a brain's dark

Nook, they reside,

Temporarily trapped

In a neutral mode,

Until the terrible

Time they explode...

特殊訓練

Special uniformed training,

Arranged by my nation,

Sitting in my plywood

Box, mild hallucination,

Due to lack of food,

And sleep deprivation

No choice but to grimace,

Grind-through, the situation...

台風4号

Missing landfall, the typhoon

Howls in disappointment offshore,

Then growls and stalks northward,

Dissipates until it is no more…

戦争の現実

Once a geopolitical

Fire is lit,

It's difficult

To stop or quit,

Or quell the brimstone

Pain and hate,

No off-ramps

To deescalate,

Just wait for

Killings to abate...

Cure Varieties

Escape from

Hangover's thrall,

Strong black coffee

And Tylenol...

Or, alternatively,

Imbibe a bit more,

Of the booze you

Had the night before...