Deterrence

Plastic scary crow,
Dangle turn and sway,
Above the trash box,
Keeps real crows away...

Silence

All driven off the street,
By the burning 
Summer heat,
Playground empty,
No one around,
Desolate, dry,
Absence of sound…

実用的

When plans break down,

And things get tactical,

It's a good idea to

Flex and be practical...

立秋の後

End of August, cooler nights

The nor-eastern winds bring,

Cicadas growing quiet, while

Bell crickets start to sing...

Practicality

Living on islands with

Earthquakes, volcanoes,

Japanese have learned not

To blame, or discompose...

Unhoused

Evicted, so it's "Au revoir"

To my apartment, and

Now, a life in my car...

Apocalypse

So, we were told,

This is how it ends,

Explosions after a

Comet or missile descends,

Survive? … well,

Now, that all depends…

Funny Bone

Surprisingly, delightfully,

And largely unbidden,

A sense of joy burst out

From where it was hidden,

Spreading and tingling

Inside me, all the while,

Ennui replaced by giddiness,

And I could not help but smile...

Non-Understandable

So, please tell me then,

Why Donbas costs the

Lives of a million men...

不眠症の原因

Infiltrated through,

Cracks and seams,

In my mind, come

Insomniac dreams,

Of great drama and

Beauty, they play,

Killing sleep, until

The dawn of a new day...

終戦の日

August sun, burning hot and high,

Above the war dead memorial,

Not a cloud in the sky...

Circling the Yagura

Departed spirits,

Return to the sound,

O-Bon music dance,

Goes round and round,

Swaying, waving,

On a summer ground...

政治界

Politics, a crazy circus,

Clowns performing endlessly,

Instigation and banality,

Occasional lethality,

Simulated sound and fury,

Or so it seems to be...

Wages of Days

Pleasures and pains,

Relieved and deceived,

Losses and gains,

Wisdom achieved...

虫箱

Magnificent Stag Beetle,

Crawls, scratches, stalks,

Courageously, futilely,

In a child's plastic bug box...

蝉時雨

Cicadas, in thousands, 

Sing with buzzing power,

Alive, so shortly, their

Cries a sound-shower...

History Repeats

A war-scarred trench, 1915, 

Near Alsace-Lorraine,

Manned by soldiers 

Full of fear, stress, pain,

Reanimates, in the 2020s,

In the east of Ukraine...

Philosopher

Don't readily accept

The to and from,

Doubt to the beat

Of a different drum,

Question, object,

Cogito ergo sum...

夏休み

Precious short vacation,

A chance to rearrange,

Depressurize,

Mental oil change,

Heal a bit from

The rat-race hell,

And have some fun,

If all goes well...

Evanescent

The too quick transition

From is, to was,

Sucks that it won't

Last longer, really does...

Capitalist Con Game

Oligarchs manipulate

Political-Marionettes,

Then fly away, in

Their private jets,

Incite the less fortunate

To argue and fight,

While keeping their

Riches out of sight...

Die Hard

Believe and hope,

Make a plan,

Follow through,

Yes, we can,

Rise up, move out,

Win or lose,

Fight, for love,

For what we choose...