Plant Wars

Weeds and grasses vie
For the best sunlight
And the losers die

Or one of them tries
To twist and bend
In compromise

Sunset At Starbucks

Late sparse afternoon
He sits alone and stirs
Cinnamon into the latte,
His favorite, not hers,
She, long since departed,
From the counter, where
The whole thing started,
And it felt so special
As the feelings drew
Them on to places in
The heart they never knew,
He sips his coffee, sighing,
Over something precious
Lost, for lack of trying...

鳥居

Ancient entry point,
On the other side,
Past where it stands,
Is where gods reside.

Spat

She declares one way,
He posits in return,
Each has their say,
Launched words leaving
Mouths, but the ears
Aren't receiving...

Interior Decoration

What can't be changed
Due to being sedentary
Will be rearranged
And when it's through
Due to being different
It will feel like new

Will It Be Remembered

Vermilion sunrise
Kisses away the
Sleep from my eyes

Collection Agent

Colored black, otherwise

As white as empty snow,

Sometimes seeming to

Use a scythe to mow

Down hundreds at once,

Or gather, one by one,

Those chosen souls,

When their time is done.

Collateral Damage

Nowhere, or way, to run,
We're trapped in a war,
Terrorists have occupied
The building next door,
Then comes the explosion,
And the blood on our floor...

A Remnant

Long gone, the hardy ones
Who took what little
The island would give
Piling stone upon stone
Into someplace to live
Piling seaweed and shit
To make a field's soil
'Til the potato famine
Put an end to their toil...

Back To Reality

Lost in a contemplation

Of the meaning of life

Until awoken and freed

By orders from my wife...

Those Special Moments

There are times when you notice
Something weird is in the air
And energy is coming
From everywhere...

I Want Your Vote

The presidential election
Exposed as a flawed
Process of selection...

Lots of angry voices
Media and money
Result in candidate choices
So bad that it's funny
In a sad kind of way
And there's still six
Months until Election Day...

Verny Park, Mid-May 2016

Fragrant roses, in fullest bloom,
In a park, under the trees,
An old man, with a camera,
Worships them, on his knees,
Intent on capturing
The beauty he sees...

錆びてる商店街

Pull up the shop shutter, another business day,
Mr. Tanaka stops to rub his back, and gaze
Around at the same surroundings and sights,
Unchanged, verging on rust, in the early haze
Of an unprepossessing morning, soon to
Deliver bumps and lumps in various ways,
Another business day on the dying shopping
Street, greeted by the cries the ravens raise...

緑

Springtime's ardent surge
Is overwhelming, as
Infinite greens emerge

Karma

What goes round, comes around,
In a karma payback curve,
To punish bullies and those
Others who deserve...

Risk Management

The success one makes
Often depends on the
Chances one takes...

Caught In The Light

Ants live in their colony,
Bees dwell in their hive,
But cockroaches have
To scurry, to stay alive...

Biology 101

Emotional fixation
Led to copulation
Thereafter adding to
The world's population...

Pike's Peak

Massive, solitary, snow-white,
Brilliant, against a blue sky,
Powerful, holy height...