Not To Be, Or...

If we could-be, as opposed
To what we really are,
Then maybe that could
Be us reaching for a star,
Our might-have-been
Dreams, realized from afar.

Henny Youngman's Senryu

Come home at night to a woman
Who'll give you love, affection,
Tenderness? It means you're
In some sort of deflection
From normal routines...?
You're in the wrong house,  
That's what it means. 

Behind The Season's Shift

The green is all around
Spreading in the rain
Like a some sort of revenge
Against the ice cold pain
Of a winter, now departed,
And the green will never
Retreat, now it's started.

Why Not?

Emotions are temporary,
But they help to mask
The negative, the very
Things which conspire
To bring us down, drag
Us away from the higher
Cloudless altitudes where
Happiness permeates
The cool sky-blue air.

Celestial Candle

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

Do you notice from afar,

Your kin, we humans call the sun,

Which burns, like you, until it’s done,

Grows giant red, then shrinks

Back to what was begun,

As cosmic dust in the dark

Congealing towards a spark…

Twinkle, twinkle, little light,

Burning-out in an empty night.

Carl LaFong Is Happy

Life is movement,

Sometimes fun,

Sometimes chaotic mess,

All forward motion until it’s done…

So, for a moment, I get it,

Get up from the comfy chair,

Flap my arms in a crazy dance,

Sucking in the cool fresh air,

Refreshing, recirculating, forgetting

The TV still playing there…

Life is movement,

Sometimes measured

Sometimes frantic, spontaneous,

Each small dance to be treasured.

What I Did This Afternoon

Mid-afternoon, unable to escape,
Caught in a training meeting's thrall,
A sleep demon pushing down on my
Eyes, as I stare at the clock on the wall,
Hoping for some progress, but it doesn't
Seem to be moving very much at all...

Meanwhile our briefer drones on and on,
Each successive phrase becoming harder to
Hear, until all comprehension is gone,
I'm a tied-up, trapped, and tired mess,
A sad manifestation of a yawn,
Jammed between boredom and emptiness.

Happy (I Just Needed To Post This!)

(A small early-2014 phenomenon/miracle, by Pharrell Williams)

"Happy"

[Verse 1:]
It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way

[Chorus:]
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

[Verse 2:]
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold it back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time
Here’s why

[Chorus]

Hey, come on

[Bridge:]
(happy)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said (let me tell you now)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said

[Chorus 2x]

Hey, come on

(happy)
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down… my level's too high…
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down, I said (let me tell you now)

[Chorus 2x]

Come on

Navy Reunion

I somehow kept my the feelings inside,
As I saw you coming across the pier,
But they all let loose as we embraced,
Back from the sea, you are finally here!

Continuity Of The Forge

Those who used to make swords,
Which are now banned, instead
Make knives for cooks, the same
Steel which was used to behead
Unlucky commoners by samurai,
Now long gone and dead.

Yankees And The Land Of The Gods

When the surging Western wave reached the shores
Of Asia, it broke on the rocky shore of the land
Of the gods, and what followed was much
Different than what was expected or planned
By the Occidental sailors, preachers and traders,
As the the island tribe was able to withstand,
Absorb and adapt the ways of the invaders,
To its eventual advantage, modernizing, and
Playing in the game of capital, until it was won...
And the tables were turned on the West,
By the chosen of the Land of the Rising Sun.

April Rebirth

Spring's green is upon us,
An invasion of leaves,
An explosion of sprouts,
As the earth receives
A make-over, rescuing warmth
From winter's thieves.

Spring's green is taking over,
Life's energy and promise,
Steams verdant in the clover.

The Power Of Facial Muscles

A working day, with all that entails, making
My way through what seems like a mile
Long succession of those little bruises and
Bumps and business-social friction, while
Underneath it all, hoping there's something
Better, happier --- and then I see your smile.

Unintended Effect

To others, it was obvious, to the point
Of almost being a "so what?" event,
But to me it was revelation, an opening,
A call into my tired soul to reinvent,
To retrieve the missing enthusiasm
From the dark boring place it went...

Wake Up Call

Big thanks to you,
For letting me know
It's morning in Yokosuka,
Mr. caw-caw Crow.

Comfort Versus Reality

Searching for certainty, stability,
Amid the change that's all around,
Mucking through a swamp of chaos,
Just looking for some solid ground,
On which to stand, to think, to rest,
"Does it exist?" "Can it be found?"
Chanting questions in a daily quest,
Hopefully hunting for peace, or that
Part of it which can be possessed.

Rural Line Convergence

The country road,
Straight and graveled,
Like the farmers, is
Largely untraveled.

(Photo by Geoffrey Hamilton, 1955-2011)

Nuclear Family Unbound

Siblings, bound together by blood,
Thereafter separated by their lives,
And the needs of random strangers
Who became husbands and wives,
And events, good and bad, which devise
To challenge and weaken family ties…

Siblings, bound together by memories,
Shared during reunions, they recall
The way their family once was before
It was pulled apart, before the fall.

Way East Of Kiev

In the dog-eat-dog world of Eurasian border
Politics, to survive it is essential to retain
Control over the land between you and
Your neighbor, protect your domain
At all costs, and thus we now see Russian
Tanks preparing to invade the Ukraine,
The geopolitics  of the Eurasian continent
Always marked by tension and pain.

Fourth Month

It's April's first day,
And we're a bunch of fools,
But that's O.K.