Headed Back To Our Place

Driving home, the a road stretching way out ahead,
Lines in front of the windshield curving, converging,
And it seems we can't go fast enough to reach
The place of of comfort, found at their merging.

Isn't It So?

"Loaded for bear"
Means you're ready to handle
Almost anything, anywhere.

So does "Loaded for Mouse"
Mean you're better off
Staying around the house?

As opposed to being loaded,
Which suggests a situation
Of being lost in some
Lovely state of inebriation...

Growing Up

What we were taught by those older
Than us, was to respect what is real,
And makes business sense, vice the
Music in hour heads, what we feel,
Urges and mistaken assumptions
All sorted out by what we learn,
Our precious, peculiar childhood
Dreams, banished, never to return.

Life-giving Nights

I suppose what is so refreshing about spring,
Is that threat of freezing is diminished,
As things get green and balmy, and
Will remain so until summer's finished,
Leaving us free to roll and swoon,
On the sweet green grass, under the moon.

Eye Contact

So I stare at you,
And you stare at me,
Patiently I think,
That eventually,
You will blink,
But if you don't,
I guess I will,
Because, you won't.

Us

It exists, despite occasional
Disturbance and fuss,
This miraculous and
Fragile thing called us,
Which is sometimes also
Known to others as we,
This odd combination
Made from you and me,
Proof that opposites
Attract, unwittingly,
And we try, each day,
With a modicum of grace,
Not to stumble as we run
Our three-legged race,
This thing called us,
A most improbable case,
We somehow avoid what
Would end our embrace,
Us, ambling forward together,
At our own, uneven, pace.

I Am Woman. Hear Me Lord...

Peace, the odd comfort and relaxation,
Are all available, are there for the asking,
If she could only unwind into her real
Skin, and mitigate her multi-tasking,
For slowing down at home can reveal
The small miracles of everyday life,
Which are consistently downplayed,
Ignored, in her fight against being a wife,
Grimly, she sticks to the choice that she made
To go out and try to have it all, no matter
The hard cost to herself to be paid.

Plan B

My other Blog, where I take some of my older poems and attempt to do some kaizen.  改善

Link:  http://commonpoemsandrhymes.wordpress.com/

Tango No Sekku 端午の節句

The carp kites swim in the wind,
On a day when boys are treasured,
Still young and lovely, before they
Grow, and then are measured
To wear the implements of war,
And tattered battle flags will wave,
Where the carp kites flew before...

Golden Week

On a day, so cool-sunny pleasant,
People overcome by the urge to go out,
And they do so, in numbers, this Saturday,
All strolling, shopping, and milling about...

A man pushing a dog in a stroller,
Stops, with a lost look on his face,
As if he's waiting for someone to
Prod him, perhaps take his place,

Nearby his woman bends over
A carton of colorful clothing,
At an open-air market where
Hundreds mingle, some of them loathing
The prospect of it all ending,
Too soon, with no way to save
The minutes they're spending...

Others, are simply unaware,
Happy to be strolling, shopping, and
Milling about, in the springtime air.

Not To Be, Or...

If we could-be, as opposed
To what we really are,
Then maybe that could
Be us reaching for a star,
Our might-have-been
Dreams, realized from afar.

Henny Youngman's Senryu

Come home at night to a woman
Who'll give you love, affection,
Tenderness? It means you're
In some sort of deflection
From normal routines...?
You're in the wrong house,  
That's what it means. 

Behind The Season's Shift

The green is all around
Spreading in the rain
Like a some sort of revenge
Against the ice cold pain
Of a winter, now departed,
And the green will never
Retreat, now it's started.

Why Not?

Emotions are temporary,
But they help to mask
The negative, the very
Things which conspire
To bring us down, drag
Us away from the higher
Cloudless altitudes where
Happiness permeates
The cool sky-blue air.

Celestial Candle

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

Do you notice from afar,

Your kin, we humans call the sun,

Which burns, like you, until it’s done,

Grows giant red, then shrinks

Back to what was begun,

As cosmic dust in the dark

Congealing towards a spark…

Twinkle, twinkle, little light,

Burning-out in an empty night.

Carl LaFong Is Happy

Life is movement,

Sometimes fun,

Sometimes chaotic mess,

All forward motion until it’s done…

So, for a moment, I get it,

Get up from the comfy chair,

Flap my arms in a crazy dance,

Sucking in the cool fresh air,

Refreshing, recirculating, forgetting

The TV still playing there…

Life is movement,

Sometimes measured

Sometimes frantic, spontaneous,

Each small dance to be treasured.

What I Did This Afternoon

Mid-afternoon, unable to escape,
Caught in a training meeting's thrall,
A sleep demon pushing down on my
Eyes, as I stare at the clock on the wall,
Hoping for some progress, but it doesn't
Seem to be moving very much at all...

Meanwhile our briefer drones on and on,
Each successive phrase becoming harder to
Hear, until all comprehension is gone,
I'm a tied-up, trapped, and tired mess,
A sad manifestation of a yawn,
Jammed between boredom and emptiness.

Happy (I Just Needed To Post This!)

(A small early-2014 phenomenon/miracle, by Pharrell Williams)

"Happy"

[Verse 1:]
It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way

[Chorus:]
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

[Verse 2:]
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold it back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time
Here’s why

[Chorus]

Hey, come on

[Bridge:]
(happy)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said (let me tell you now)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said

[Chorus 2x]

Hey, come on

(happy)
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down… my level's too high…
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down, I said (let me tell you now)

[Chorus 2x]

Come on

Navy Reunion

I somehow kept my the feelings inside,
As I saw you coming across the pier,
But they all let loose as we embraced,
Back from the sea, you are finally here!

Continuity Of The Forge

Those who used to make swords,
Which are now banned, instead
Make knives for cooks, the same
Steel which was used to behead
Unlucky commoners by samurai,
Now long gone and dead.

Yankees And The Land Of The Gods

When the surging Western wave reached the shores
Of Asia, it broke on the rocky shore of the land
Of the gods, and what followed was much
Different than what was expected or planned
By the Occidental sailors, preachers and traders,
As the the island tribe was able to withstand,
Absorb and adapt the ways of the invaders,
To its eventual advantage, modernizing, and
Playing in the game of capital, until it was won...
And the tables were turned on the West,
By the chosen of the Land of the Rising Sun.

April Rebirth

Spring's green is upon us,
An invasion of leaves,
An explosion of sprouts,
As the earth receives
A make-over, rescuing warmth
From winter's thieves.

Spring's green is taking over,
Life's energy and promise,
Steams verdant in the clover.

The Power Of Facial Muscles

A working day, with all that entails, making
My way through what seems like a mile
Long succession of those little bruises and
Bumps and business-social friction, while
Underneath it all, hoping there's something
Better, happier --- and then I see your smile.

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.