Elton John's "Rocket Man" (1972)

Lean back in my recliner, listening

To Elton, staring at the ceiling,

Imagining the night sky beyond it,

Then I get this spooky feeling,

That the chair on which I sit,

And my desperate dwelling place,

Are clinging to a planet reeling,

At great speed, through Space...

Note: This is a revision of a poem I wrote on 12/21/2012)

Theater!

Take a moment, dress it up

With lights, music, sound,

Make it special, different

From other times, all around,

Create magic minutes, stop,

Disjoint time's normal flow,

And hopefully, briefly, banish

The boring life we know...

Note: This is a revision of a poem I wrote on 12/31/2012 

Hej där

Into IKEA pour parents and kids,

A mob, hungry, stressed, amped,

On a rainy Sunday, refugees from

Rooms cluttered and cramped…

And somehow they are sure,

That joy will be found

Among Swedish furniture…

宇宙人の仕事

She said she was kidnapped

And probed by a UFO,

So, god's truth, or fiction,

How do you know?

But all in a day's work

For the Aliens, apropos...

Anti-Hero

He knew he was a coward,

But when the moment came,

He acted without thinking,

And gained eternal fame,

Became a hero, things thereafter,

Would never be the same,

Yet no real change to

What will linger, inhere,

As he remained unsure,

And chock full of fear...

Un-Remember

A salving gift

Is forgetfulness,

Bad memories just

Cause pain & stress,

Better to scrub clean

Consciousness…

車社会

This surreal, mobile,

World we live in,

Riding an internal

Combustion engine,

Which propels us

In our too-large car,

To random places,

Near and far...

A Valley in Nepal

A glacier collapsed 

And stormed downhill,

A rock-mud tsunami

To crush and kill,

Mercilessly destroying

A peaceful day,

And we couldn't run

Fast enough to get away...

What Will Be

Tomorrow, an enigma, with

Risks and fissures fraught,

Plans are undependable,

Despite what we were taught,

Products not the same as

What we thought we bought...

Grind & Create

Writing this month's twentieth poem,

Find the right words, carry the load,

Wheels spin before they engage,

Almost made my brain explode...

Safe Haven

In addition to sucking

Up carbon dioxide,

The tree is a place

To rest and hide,

For evading the

Hawk and crow,

Its leaves providing 

Cover, down below,

This, the songbirds

Somehow know…

無理の月見

Moon hidden 

Behind cloud,

No dreamy 

Gazing allowed,

The opaque 

Situation,

Not conducive to

To inspiration,

Which relies

On moonbeams,

Unblocked, unfettered,

It seems…

立秋

After the passing of typhoon,

A cool glimpse of autumn,

But gone too soon,

And wild lilies droop

In the drowsy afternoon…

Micro Risk

Every time they walk out the door,

The chance that things may not return

To the way they were before…

The Process

Eventually, it

Catches up with you,

And it's not like

You never knew...

Stuff

An accumulation of things,

And the feeling of permanence,

Stability, that brings...

Bric-a-brac, books,

Lined up on the wall,

Pretends to postpone,

That which will befall...

Law of the Jungle

In case of

International spat,

Call up the

Diplomat,

But if it turns

Into a war,

Need something

Much, much, more...

Then also comprehend,

That it may not neatly,

Quickly, end....

Babysitting

If the truth be told,

Grandkids make you feel

Both young and old...

The Mower

Cut grass, and he

Can sense and see,

The abandonment,

Slowly, of infinity,

The chopped weeds

Remind of the reality,

Of impermanence

And our fragility...

Glacial

Years of struggle, smiles,

And effort applied,

Left their relationship

Stable, but petrified...

Take 5

Catch your breath,

Catch a break,

Luck lies in the

Bed you make...

Otsu Port

Protected from waves and tidal churn,

Seagulls sit on harbor ramp, waiting

For the fishing boats' return...

Troubled

Something’s off,

Doesn’t feel right,

Trapped, in a

Restless night…

Spooky

That childhood feeling

Of fear and dread,

Over what is hiding 

Under the bed,

Pull up the blanket,

Shivered & shook,

Nothing really there,

But too scared to look…

Sideways

Glass half empty,

Glass half full,

Either way

Suboptimal…