Unintended Effect

To others, it was obvious, to the point
Of almost being a "so what?" event,
But to me it was revelation, an opening,
A call into my tired soul to reinvent,
To retrieve the missing enthusiasm
From the dark boring place it went...

Wake Up Call

Big thanks to you,
For letting me know
It's morning in Yokosuka,
Mr. caw-caw Crow.

Comfort Versus Reality

Searching for certainty, stability,
Amid the change that's all around,
Mucking through a swamp of chaos,
Just looking for some solid ground,
On which to stand, to think, to rest,
"Does it exist?" "Can it be found?"
Chanting questions in a daily quest,
Hopefully hunting for peace, or that
Part of it which can be possessed.

Rural Line Convergence

The country road,
Straight and graveled,
Like the farmers, is
Largely untraveled.

(Photo by Geoffrey Hamilton, 1955-2011)

Nuclear Family Unbound

Siblings, bound together by blood,
Thereafter separated by their lives,
And the needs of random strangers
Who became husbands and wives,
And events, good and bad, which devise
To challenge and weaken family ties…

Siblings, bound together by memories,
Shared during reunions, they recall
The way their family once was before
It was pulled apart, before the fall.

Way East Of Kiev

In the dog-eat-dog world of Eurasian border
Politics, to survive it is essential to retain
Control over the land between you and
Your neighbor, protect your domain
At all costs, and thus we now see Russian
Tanks preparing to invade the Ukraine,
The geopolitics  of the Eurasian continent
Always marked by tension and pain.

Fourth Month

It's April's first day,
And we're a bunch of fools,
But that's O.K.

Transient Sakura 無常の桜

Daffodil stalks, their flowers lately gone,
Are clustered, green, in the shade,
Of a Cherry Tree in full bloom,
Pink-white blossoms fully displayed,
But soon, like the Daffodils,
The tree's beauty will fade
Into the green from which life is made.

"Baby's Good To Me..."

The young ones, constantly texting,
Dumb-walking and always on-line,
Are rediscovering the Beatles,
Which makes me smile, and "I Feel Fine"...

Righty Tightie, Lefty Loosie

When encountering a random screw
Twisted deep into a piece of wood,
Knowing, at first, which way to turn
Your screwdriver, would be a good
Thing to know, lest your hands learn
The lesson of how friction can burn.

The Human Condition

Negotiate and persuade,
Ply with food and spirits,
Is how deals are made.

But fundamentalists
Argue endlessly otherwise,
Blind to the long-term
Blessings of compromise.

I am right and
You are wrong,
And it doesn't matter
If we get along,
For we are the chosen,
And you are not,
So let us take power
And accept your lot.

The extremists carry forth
Unbending, and so it goes,
Until the rocks and bullets
Fly, and the blood flows...

The War Between Men And Women (Part 2)

When women and men work together
Clustered and stressed in the same space,
There are factors that tend complicate
Things occurring in the office place,
Mostly deriving from the urge to mate,
Biology perverting the laws of economics
Professionalism versus the will to procreate,
Rules of conduct, business acumen,
Defeated by testosterone and estrogen.

Small Life Lesson

Running through the rain with a loaf of bread,
Which, while fresh, is now getting mushy & soaked...
I should have bought something in a can instead.

Washington D.C. Function

The hostess strives to please
Her guests, plying them with
Compliments, wine and cheese,
Making love with conversation,
Putting them at all ease,
Pandering the powerful while
Erect, vice down on her knees,
The hostess knows how it all works,
As do the guests, who are
Mostly bores and jerks.

MH370

Do there still float pieces of the Malaysian
Airliner, now perhaps broken and entombed
In an Indian Ocean oblivion,
What awful force of random fate loomed
Over the passengers and crew, all
Disappeared completely, perfectly doomed.

Take A Break

Awake and prepare for the daily grind,
With all its demands and stress,
But be sure to make time for the
Healing of prayers or mindfulness,

Don't let your busy-ness forbid,
The nurturing properties
Of going off the grid...

Position Unknownn

I was meandering, not lost, in thought,
Wandering, mentally, in a set of
Surprises which emotionally ought
To balance what's above
From what's below, all fraught
With potential loss from love,
Selling what had yet to be bought.

Tsukushi

The horsetails, otherwise
Know as joint grass,
Poke up from the dirt
Post-Equinox pass.

Circular

I dreamed I rowed a boat
Across to the other shore,
Disembarked and then found
Myself back where I was before,

So I rowed back across again,
And when I was through,
I was in the same place on the
Bank of the river Deja-Vu.

Draw Of The Cards

That happiness could
Depend on luck or fate,
Is something to consider,
Something to contemplate...

A Wall In The Woods

Deep in the woods, where the winds stop,
And turn into dark quiet air,
Is a man-made wall of stones,
Dividing nothing from nowhere.

The wall is well made, symmetric,
Straight, now calico'd with moss,
I wonder whose sturdy hands built it,
Each stone gathered and carried across
Distance to be carefully put in place,
To organize, to mitigate loss,
The serried stones are a trace
Of old labor, hope, and sweat,
A stubborn, solid monument to someone,
An anonymous appeal, to not forget.

John H. Chafee Nature Preserve

What were once farmers' fields,
Are now shaded by trees,
Rooted deep and grown
Tall, swaying in the breeze,
On land where seeds were sown...

Land, once an immigrant's prize,
Now a feral forest, where an
Abandoned dream lies.

Life Goal

You can't always win
But if you try, you might,
Most of the time,
Be right.

Keepsake

The old worn Teddy-bear, beloved by the daughter,
Is now warmly possessed by another,
As a treasure in an empty nest,
By the mother.

Hunnebedden

What were they thinking, way back when,
Before recorded history, those ancient beings
Who chose and moved big rocks, then
Lifted one upon another, making a formation
With a meaning, now lost, the rock piles
Built through raw strength and cooperation...
Did the rocks bring meaning, pride, or smiles?
Was it full-stomach boredom, or inspiration,
Or the urging of a one who claimed the gods
Should be thanked for the hunter clan's
Continued survival, won against all odds,
Perhaps it proclaimed to an unforgiving land:
"Like the hills and mountains, here we stand."