Post New Year's Eve

Have a drink of the hair of the dog
Wipe the sleep from my eyes
Face to the east as the darkness
Fades with the sun's slow rise
Make a toast, if you can summon
The words, gone before you realize...

Out And In

It's OK to think outside the box
But still sleep within its walls
Make sure the doors have locks

Rediscovery

A millennial hipster kid,
Breathlessly stops by,
Says a new band called the Beatles,
Is streaming on Spotify...

Only In Your Heart

I just heard a dear forgotten song,
Listened to it all until the end,
Can't help smiling, so happy,
Like finding a long lost friend...

365th Evening

As the year comes to an end,
Before transforming into after,
Best to forget the negatives,
Instead remember the laughter...

Morning Commute

The cold Siberian wind,
Sweeping across Tokyo Bay,
Blows against my grim walk
To work, on a winter's day,

Warmth, the Solstice Sun too
Low and weak to convey...

What School Doesn't Teach

In high school I learned to
Chuckle at others frequently,

In college I learned to
Laugh and satirize mercilessly,

Thereafter, I've come to find,
The joke is usually on me...

O-Sho-Gatsu お正月

Japanese people, lost in a zen
Of preparation and cleaning,
As a new year approaches again...

Yule Time In The Ginza

Christmas is practiced in Tokyo,
But people don't know why,
No turkeys in the land of the gods,
And ovens in short supply,
So Kentucky Fried Chicken
Is what Santa Claus brings,
Along with cake, and colored lights,
And strange foreign things,
Like murdered fir trees and
What a Herald Angel sings...

Where's The Tissue

A virus causes a "cold",
But cold it is not,
Rather, its an issue of
Way too much snot...

On The Way To Shimbashi

Crowded commuter train window
Glass clouded by a human smear,
From someone's morning face or hair,
Outside the sky is cool and clear,
I stand in the stuffy air, wishing I
Was any other place else than here...

Yes I Do -- (Not)

Diamond and platinum wedding rings,
Lined up in rows, shiny, sparkling,
Symbols of joy and hopeful things,

Now each jewel tells of happiness
Which never came to pass,
From broken vows, they now lie
Under the pawnshop counter glass...

Helmand Province

War erupts again in Afghanistan,
Just because it can,
Just because it must,
Tribal machismo, revenge,
Mountains, blood, and dust...

冬至 Month of Running Priests

The Shiwasu Sky is
Deep blue and clear
Hot bath with citrons
Shortest day of the year

Lost Memorial

The war is remembered
But still not understood
The boys who fought it
All now gone for good
Their names carved into
A cold granite wall
Did their sacrifices
Mean anything at all...

Solstice Scene

Leaves fallen, soon to become mulch,
The dead brown grass is melancholy,
Under holiday lights on the tree
Which blink a season to be jolly,
We scheme to summon happiness,
Through presents, Poinsettias, and holly...

One's Choice

You can go out and deal with
Meteorological force,
Its cold and cutting winds,
Or just stay in, of course...

Neolithic

Beckoned by our Druid priest,
We gather by the big stones,
On a morning, facing to the east,
We sense things immense,
Lights, and god signs, released...

Innocence

School is out, and with not a care,
In the world, we dance along with
Tumbling leaves, in the Autumn air,
Our sidewalk journey full of a
Happiness we don't even know is there...

Relativity

Truth and reality
Can be either
Black or white
Or neither...

Social Security

What a scary funky thrill is life
It can offer you scarlet sunsets
Or come at your throat with a knife