Patriots

You work for your flag,
And all it stands for.
As do I for mine -- its
Sovereignty, and more
To the point, our flags will
Be raised high before
Me and you, reminding
Us that our differences
Are non-trivial, and binding.      

The End Of Generations

He sits, bored, amidst chains,
Daggers, knives, and credit card bills,
The last ninja...

Welcome Back (Sayonara) Kotter

It was announced on the news today,
That a star of 70s T.V. had passed away...
I instantly remembered, when I saw
Him in the file photo reporting his
Termination, and I'm thinking "Ah!?"
And Im asking myself "Why is this
A surprise?" -- Because I could not recall
His being alive, and it would be remiss
Of me to act like I somehow knew it all
Along .... Yet he existed in his own place,
Unknown to me, and also somewhere else,
In my brain, as an old remembered face.

It Always Ends Too Soon

Some are vitalized and refreshed,
Others are grumpy and depressed,
All back in their labor maze,
Monday at work,
Post-summer holidays...

Ambient Trance

The notes repeat like a chant,
The underlying rhythm urges
Along a feeling I can't
Explain in words, it all surges
In spooky loops, and glides
On the updrafts of sounds
To a place where peace resides...

Relativity

Time faster flows
During one's vacation
And no one knows
Why the acceleration

What Money Can't Buy

I want to do that and this,
But I don't have the money,
So I'm forced to dismiss
Or defer gratification,
And the temporary bliss,
Which is said to be so nice,
On sale, at a bargain price.

Somewhere In Syria

Morning in Aleppo, cool
But soon to be bloody and hot,
A summer war between neighbors,
Where quick death is a shot
From a random Alawite sniper,
Where forgiveness is not
Asked for, or received by
Those, mostly men, who fight
And hate, while innocents die.

15 August -- Tokyo & Seoul

One country bows in shame,
While another rises to cheer,
What happened 67 years ago,
Over there and right here...

But those killed don't know
The difference anyway,
Packed into ossuary, grave,
And memorial, they lay
Beyond man's power to save...

Beloved to someone, all
The dead had hopes,
Small joys and plans, before
The vengeful bombs would fall,
And all was crushed by war...

Bon Odori 盆踊り

Paper lanterns, hung on a string,
Line the perimeter of the dance,
Emitting soft light, hoping to bring
The spirits of the old departed ones
Back from their dark forgotten space,
The lantern lights beckon them
To return to this festive place,
Where women in yukata dance late
Into the balmy summer night,
And the children of the spirits await.

RISSHU 立秋

The eighth of August,
Feels like any other hot
Summer day, but it's
Different, special, not
Ordinary at all --
It's the first day of Fall.

Red Medicine

It comes in slowly, like an ocean tide,
Inexorably, quietly making me feel
Better, and my room more interesting
And fun than it actually is, in real,
Less altered circumstances, where
I normally exist, and minutes congeal
Into hours of sweat and effort spent
So fast, I can't tell if we won, or arrived,
Or, frankly, where it all went...

So, now I'm sinking,
Into the surging tide
Of feeling, not thinking...

Landing On Mars

Landing on distant Mars, our
Carefully-designed machine
Slow-rolls on solar power,
To explore and glean
Facts to hug the hope we hold,
That there may be other
Places, however cold,
Were life found a way, in water,
To thrive, or so it's told...
And our Mars rover will
Collect, crawl, explore,
Relentlessly, mechanically,
Until it moves no more...

Lover's Spat

Ten minutes too late, it occurs
To me, what I should have said,
My failure blurs
The way ahead,
But ahead I must go,
Believing that action assures
A way to repair, what
I have somehow broken
Through words unspoken...

The Decline And Fall Of Disco

The power was chopped,
And the music stopped,
But we just keep on dancing
To the beat of our hearts,
We will shimmy and sway,
And hug, until the next song starts...

Small Tragedy On A Tree

Fresh-born loud cicada's,
Proud song abruptly stopped --
A sparrow's breakfast...

Goodbye Norma Jean

We lost Marilyn Monroe
So tragically, suddenly,
50 years ago...

Yet her beauty lives!
An eternal light
Shining from the void,
Left by a tired pretty
Woman, self-destroyed...

Evolution At Zushi Beach

Naked apes: yellow, pink, and brown,
Frolic and fry on the summer beach,
All day long, until the sun goes down...

Posing and preening in string bikinis,
Speedos barely concealing weenies,
Ape-like they jump, hoot, and clown,
But stay far from the water
Lest they get wet or drown...

Naked apes drinking
Cocktails and wines,
Will continue as long
As the hot sun shines...

Watchstander's Angst

Have you ever been stuck,
Waiting for a phone call,
Which you know will be
Bad news, and it's all
You can do to sit there,
And not scream or
Pull out your hair,
But you are stuck because
Fullfill your duty
You must, and it does
Not matter what things
You feel, just be there to pick
Up the phone when it rings.

Retirement Secret

In the mornings, for health reasons,
I get to walk the dog, and clean
Up after it deposits yesterday's
Meal onto the granite sheen
Of a park pavement, and only
The dog is getting shapely, lean,
While I manage to stay plump
But happy, if you know what I mean.

Prometheus' Gift

Gathered, on the ground,
We split the bones and meat,
All of us feeding around
The fire, our gift from the gods,
The fire forever changing
Our fate, increasind the odds
Of our survival, rearranging
The natural order of things,
And we, once food for beasts,
No longer fear what nighttime brings...

August Night

Waiting for the fireworks,
And the magic they will
Paint in the evening sky,
With noise and light, until
They finish, and things go still,
As it is now, as we wait,
Putting on summer kimonos,
Preparing to celebrate,
The festive moment in time
The fireballs will create...