百姓

I ride a Kei truck

Not a commuter train

Alway mindful of

Sun, wind, and rain,

Pray to rice gods

In the paddy field,

Labor wordlessly

For a decent yield,

Modern day peasant,

I hope, and I toil,

Endlessly working

My ancestors' soil...

地球温暖化

"Climate change ain't real"

"Quit being a fear monger"

Yet, year-by-year, summers

Get hotter and longer...

Even if a cause is

Oil-burning automobiles,

We will never give

Up our lives on wheels...

Tokyo Bay

Gone are the crowds, who

Gather in the park on Sunday,

To drink and fry meat, the

Rain has swept them away,

All now empty silent green,

But poncho'd fishermen stay,

Lined up, on the pier, above

The wave-slap spray,

Casting baited hooks into

The waters blue and gray...

Undetected

A near miss, a close call,

But didn't get caught,

No problem at all,

Carry on with the scheme,

But don't trip and fall...

Leaving McDonald’s

Flickering street light,

Wet cold north wind,

Restless night…

Ancient Coding

An instinct to survive, and

Not be eaten alive, remains,

Somewhere deep in the 

Reptilian parts of our brains...

And it sometimes gets

Triggered, before we realize,

By cat yowls, canine growls

Or crows' guttural-raptor cries...

Bureaucrat

Some drive trucks,

Others fly jets,

I ride a desk,

With no regrets,

Passive aggressive,

As good as it gets…

Misinformed

Initial joy, hearing

That things were changed,

Only to learn later they

Were simply rearranged…

McLunch

Late morning, crow flies,

Above where I'm waiting

For Filet-O-Fish and fries,

And must not forget,

Hamburger Happy Set,

Ordering from a car,

Talk to a speaker box,

Anonymous, afar,

From human contact,

It is what we are...

Conundrum

The point is to

Continue, lose or win,

Entrance or exit,

Go out by going in,

Hug one's paradox,

Let the games begin...

Incomprehension

Sometimes we look,

But cannot see,

Or maybe we see it, 

But only dimly, partially,

Basically unable

To recognize,

What's really happening

Right before our eyes...

鬼

Japanese, not afraid of

The place called Hell,

But they do fear mountains,

Where demons dwell...

二酸化炭素

Earth, when viewed impassively,

By wise aliens beyond the stars,

Was seen to be self-destructing,

Due to farts from oil-burning cars,

And clueless Earthlings just

Reproducing and swarming,

All happy and oblivious

To the steady ominous warming...

Roots of Divorce

Oh my god, I wish it

Would all come back,

Better than before, but it's

Lost, in a time out-of-whack,

Tired, trapped, in an 

Emotional cul-de-sac...

中国

Mandate of Heaven is a

Heavy, and carried, weight,

By the millions, slowly

Remaking China great,

Centuries of sown sorrow

Now happier harvests reap,

As the ancient slumbering

Dragon awakes from its sleep...

Over When It's Over

The fun times, flowed

Fast, and through,

To a too-early end,

But then, what can you do?...   

月見

Ephemeral, their time

Gazing at the Moon,

An awe-inducing view,

But gone too soon,

And inspired by

The magical sight,

Poems quickly brushed

In the silver light...

Cringe

Like throwing out

Fruit gone rotten,

Some memories are

Best forgotten...

Gas

Her fart went unnoticed,

All good and well,

Until her emission was

Betrayed by its smell...

Crumbling Civics

Implacable ideological

Emotional division,

Caused by continued

Insults and derision,

And it gets so bad

That no one even tries,

To listen, let alone

Negotiate, or compromise...

Silence of the Bugs

Except for the crickets,

An absence of sound,

As the other bugs have

Gone underground,

Or to wherever else

They preserve their lives,

Hibernating before

The winter cold arrives...

我慢

Your road is rarely

Smooth or straight,

So, keep on moving,

Work, and wait...