Certificates And Awards

As it goes, the sum of all
He has accomplished,
Hangs, framed, on the wall,
Gathering dust...

The Meaning Of Life

Muslims and Catholics,
And Protestants, as well,
All believe the other
Will go to Hell...

While others insist
There is no such place,
And our spirits recycle,
Through time and space...

Then there are those,
Who are coldly aware,
That after the end,
There's nothing there...
So enjoy every day,
Every breath of air.

Famous Last Words

Sober, and thinking,
How I'd rather
Be drinking.

Sitting For Satori

The Japanese temple has
A Buddhist thing called Zen,
Where you meditate, or fall
Asleep now and then,
Which is when the monk
Goes on the attack,
And, with a wake-up stick,
He gives you a "whack!"
On your shoulder, or
Sometimes your back,
Instantly returning you
To your quiet, seated, fate,
To seek, through the knee
Pain, your enlightened state.

Asics' Gift

It feels newer, better,
Wondrous feelings suffuse,
Jogging along the same old path,
In a new pair of shoes.

Divine Guest, In Rural Ishikawa Prefecture

The old farmer calls-out to the field,
Inviting the rice god to come in from
The cold -- he escorts the god, concealed
From view, invisible, into the house,
To take a hot bath and have a meal,
In return for which, the farmer hopes
For blessing and big harvest yield.

Interspecies Aerobatics

A sea hawk and a crow
Dogfight in the cool spring
Wind, looping slow,
Then raptor-fast, the two
Birds, seem to be
Jousting, or just having
Fun, in an Avian way,
Up in the last cool breeze
Of a late-spring day.

朝食 Breakfast

So many little bowls and dishes,
Each pretty in its own way,
Each with a bit of food one wishes
Were something more substantial,
Preferably involving bacon, or steak,
To transform this Japanese breakfast
Into a meal an American would make.

Vernal Gift

A house plant, left for dead,
Out on the balcony,
Is sprouting leaves instead...

An amazing thing,
A tiny green miracle
Of spring.

Boston Marathon, April 2013

Hate, spurred by religion, accrued
Over time, in the mind of a man
From a place of blood and feud
And revenge for one's clan...

Such hate, left to fester and brew,
Eventually drove him to kill
The innocents he never knew.

Reality At The Barbershop

The balding middle-aged man,
Still pays the haircut's full price...
For which he supposes he can
Sweet-talk the barber to charge
Less, in proportion to the missing
Locks, but he doesn't out of pride,
And reluctance to abandon the
Young man he still feels inside.

The Way Of Religion

Consider my head
Did it come first?
Or, did the
Chicken instead?

Doesn't matter, you say,
But alas, it's our fate,
To navel-gaze
And contemplate,
The big questions,

Only to pontificate,
Once an answer is "found"...

We then preach, "it's the truth",
To others, all around.

Leadership Puzzle

I'm working through a problem,
Stuck in a bad situation, where,
There are no rules, and I hope,
At the end, an answer is there...

Journalism's Gift

Endless variations of
Wrong choices, and pure bad
Luck and stupidity...
Reading the news, makes me sad.

The Limits Of Protection

Hungry hawk above
"No worries at all,"
Thinks the armadillo,
Curling into a ball,
But he's actually
Out of luck,
Because here comes
A truck...

Electronic Dream Reader

My job as a scientist is to try
To envision, design, and make,
A machine which can read the
Dreams of those not awake...

If I can detect and discover
How phantasms work and run,
It might help cure or recover,
Minds which are lost or undone.

If I am successful, and the gear
Is developed which can look
Into sleep and make clear
What movie is playing in the brain
Victory will be declared, patents filed,
But we may lose more than we'll gain.

It Dawns On Me

I'm not completely convinced
This is the better way:
To spend one's waking hours
Trapped in the games we play...
Win or lose the hours pass,
I guess it's just that kind of day.

How I Lost My Lunch

McDonalds restaurant by the sea,
Seahawk circles slowly above, and
Then swoops down to grab a
Burger from an un-watched hand...

(True story)

Robo-Striding

Out for an evening stroll...
Immune to weather worries,
In my room, on my treadmill.

Socialist Walking Karaoke

The demonstrators march and sing,
Using a banana-boat melody by
Harry Bellafonte, they try to bring
A dose of geopolitical fear
To the busy milling crowds, who
Might briefly notice the queer
Little group walking through
A Sunday afternoon, calling
Out for peace, not war, to a Carribean
Tune, they stroll away in the falling
Light, pretty much unheeded, unseen.

Jet Lag

Body senses something isn't right,
When it jumps out of bed
Ready for the day, to fight the good fight,
But it's still the freaking middle of the night.

Body queries brain: "Hey! This is dumber
than dumb, can't you see there's no light!"
But there's now no chance for slumber
No return to dreamer-land, so might
As well make coffee, take a shower,
Make the best of this time-twist plight.

Omaha Westroads Mall, 2013

With a sense of comfort, I sit
Sipping a cup of coffee, me, a thrall
To desires which do not quit
In luring me back to the shopping mall,
To people-watch -- and maybe also it
Means I quietly derive some small
Nice something, a transient bit
Of quiet peace, seeing Midwest folk buy
Happiness, without wondering why
It could possibly be on sale,
Available for purchase, without fail.

Northeast Asian Lament

How can it be that ancient voices
Even now tell us who to hate,
Old memories coloring our choices,
Bad history slime-sealing our fate.

Our future is a distorted thing,
Cursed by Siberian graves,
And corpses in Nanking --
Usually time heals and saves,
But for us, it does no such thing.

Best Moment In The Family Room

The pain and stress floats away,
As I warmly fade into a nap,
On a gray winter Saturday,
With a cat curled on my lap.

Thoughts On A Comment By My Niece

An accomplished woman is not
To be trifled with, or ignored,
I suppose, rather she ought
To be studied, perhaps explored:
The valleys the jungle-space
Of her mind all there to be
Discovered -- It's not just her face
She is quick to remind me,
An accomplished woman's need
Is to be admired and accepted
For her excellence inside,
Even without make-up applied.