Ethnic Displacement

Indigenous, we were there first,

We fought the encroachers,

But the outcome was the worst,

Ancestral lands unsaved,

We tried to resist,

Pain would result, blood spilled,

But we lost despite the

Number of squatters killed...

New Year's In Tokyo

One second past midnight,

It's a new year, new day,

Five minutes of excitement,

We toast and kiss and play,

We celebrate the moment

Of change, with Champagne,

Party on, until it's time

To catch the final train...

Looking Ahead

What will the new year bring?

More problems, to be sure,

Or cures, that would be something,

But, take care, for what

Will unfold, could be anything...

朝雨

After a long spell

Of cold and dry,

Morning rain kindly falls

From a gray wet sky...

箱根駅伝

A nation transfixed, following the

Young men running up, then down,

Hakone mountain, competing for the

Long distance relay crown,

Along the race route crowds cheer,

In the cold clear air of the New Year...   

 

 

Holiday Dinner Rules

Family gathering, to prevent   

Becoming angered, annoyed,

Talk about politics, religion,

We all must try to avoid...

お正月の神社

Shrine ground, holy trees,

Sway in the winter breeze, 

Leaves which do not fall,

Cold, green, glisten,

Clap hands at the altar,

The neighborhood Kami's listen...

Global Warming

Way too hot, the summer of

Two Thousand Twenty Three,

All spent indoors,

Air conditioned, continually...

As Things Revolve

The morning of the day

Before the New Year's Eve,

Gather and burn bad

Memories, get ready to leave,

What was once the now,

That will turn into the past somehow...

Slumberland

A long day ended,

Actions finished,,

Energy expended,

I lie in my bed,

Motionless, suspended...

Silver Years

Seventy and still working, 

Give it all I've got,

Better than stuck at home,

With boredom, mind rot…

Eastern Front

Waves of mobilized infantry meat,

Assault into the ordnance hail,

They die in great numbers,

For no victory, to no avail,

Lessons from World War One

Forgotten, or somehow lost,

So the hapless bullet-sponge

Soldiers, now pay the bloody cost…

Wildlife

Harder to get up, now

That I'm getting old,

But outside my window,

Sparrows don't mind the cold,

They fly to survive

On seeds, bugs, bread,

While I lie warm and

Wavering in my bed...

冬至の朝

Cold, windless morning,

After the year's longest night,

Now it shall begin, the long

Slow lengthening of the light...

----------

Coffee Or Tea?

A suspended

State I'm in,

Waiting for the

Caffeine to kick-in...

大掃除

Cold and dry

Winter sun shine,

Last year's dust

Swept off the shrine

By a busy cleaning

Priest, who strives,

To purify, before

The New Year arrives...

Stranded

Dozed out in the mall,

Half-asleep in a chair,

Daydreams of being 

Somewhere else than there...

After Black Friday

Christmas shopping,

And it feels odd and queer,

That the more I buy, the

More I feel holiday cheer...

Pre-Crescent

New Moon, black,

Hiding its light,

Floats, invisible

Across the sky at night...

Inspiration

Mysterious creative

Energies surge,

After which words

Images, ideas emerge...

Dogma

Such a carefree, innocent

Place we were in,

Before we learned

About a thing called sin,

And the cathedral of guilt,

Which it built...

Stained

Inexplicable, and

Not nice at all,

The cringey memories

You always recall,

Somewhere in

Your brain they stay,

And never seem

To go away...

Battle of Old Age

To retire can mean

To retreat,

Avoid attacks,

And instead relax...