Freedom Of Choice

The degree of sacrifice

One chooses to make,

Is generally proportional

To what is at stake...

But being able to choose

Is not always a given,

As by events, one's

Options are driven...

Late Night TV

Talk show host has

A sarcastic touch,

Satirizes for laughs,

Doesn't matter much...

Rat Man No. 2

He's there every day,

Smoking, sitting alone,

By his motor scooter,

Almost still as stone,

He seems to be talking,

But makes no sound,

Looks for something

To emerge from the ground...

JW.ORG

They gather together,

Witnesses, the chosen ones,

All of them Jehovah's

Loyal daughters and sons,

In a nondescript 

Building, where,

They revel in joy,

Fear, incantation, prayer...

When It Happens

Inspiration rises,

In an upswell,

Out of the blue,

What the hell...

How It Works

Bureaucrats, advisors,

Figure out the way ahead,

And that, is how,

A leader is led...

Brain Fart

An idea arrived,

But didn't stay,

Evaporated,

Flitted away,

To hide and

Wait for when,

It will be

Discovered again...

乾杯

Things start slow and stiff,

Tokyo workers pub crawl,

But caution dissipates

And self-defenses fall,

With a steady flow of alcohol,

Unleashing an office

Gossip free-for-all...

Old Wine

Age is just a number,

What counts is within,

Ready for some action,

Let the games begin,

But remember to

Take your medicine...

Levers Of Democracy

Organize and orchestrate,

If necessary, manipulate,

Gesture, communicate,

Always machinate...

All these determine 

Political fate...

おはようございます

Wake from a dream.

Quarter past five,

Another morning,

I'm still alive,

Thanks to the

Internal chemistry,

Still functioning

Inside of me,

Me, a prescient bag

Of water and meat,

Such awareness

Bittersweet...

No FOMO

Don't push the "On" button,

Stay offline,

Things will be

Just fine...

The Murmuration

Twist, turn, swoop, swirl, Starlings

Search for a roost for the night,

In a shape-shifting murmuration,

An amazing, mysterious sight,

But how do they know to gather,

And who leads while they fly,

When do they decide to land,

I know neither how nor why...

Kitchen Manifesto

Last dish dried and put away,

A feeling of clean-up Zen,

Order prevails over chaos,

Till I have to do it again,

Suck it up and tidy up,

To the chores attend,

Because the battle with

Dirt will never ever end...

Youth Wasted On The Young

Many years passed

Before they understood,

Finally, that

"Boring is good"...

No need, really,

To posture and strive,

Sacrifice for "fun"

Just to feel alive...

梅雨の末期

Warm and wet,

To move is to sweat...

Moist cloying air

Feels heavy and crappy,

But at least all

The plants are happy...

Up-and-at-em

Rest and heal,

In the night,

Then wake up

And fight,

Survival starts

Each morning,

Fate delivers

Without warning...

Life Force

Life-buzzed baby-branches,

New clean-green generations,

Bursting up into the sunlight

From the tree’s dead amputations,

The tree, pruned cruelly cut,

Left broken-barren last Fall,

Now adorned with verdant bits

Doesn’t look sad at all…

奉納

Shrine altar courtyard,

Soundless, motionless,

Brief respite from a

Day's grind and stress,

Convene with the Kami,

Breathe, decompress...

Throw coins into the god box,

Clap hands and pray,

Relish the peace,

Then it's back to the fray...

Band-Aid Fix

The problem wasn't solved,

Only deferred, deflected,

And reemerged later

Among all those affected...

Motionless

Lie flat,

Stay still,

Let things settle,

Where they will...