Dark Side Of Bushido 武士道の無

A samurai slashes a random
Vagrant, in Shinagawa Ward,
On the Tokaido Road, in order
To test the sharpness of his sword...

Displaced In Croatia

Somewhere, in what used to be Syria,
Some people who could take no more
Of the chaos, hate, and pain, paid cash
To strangers to escape from the war,
By sailing across a sea, in leaky boats,
All hoping to reach a distant safer shore,
The people cast their fate on the kindness
Of Europeans, they'd never met before...

The result is confusion, and a shamble,
People from what used to be Syria,
Trapped and spinning in their gamble...

Millard Sunrise

My friend, who took this picture of a morning's
Small and quiet wakening, is no longer around,
But yet, I can feel it, I am there at the moment
He looked up at the pastel sky, from the ground...

(Photo by Geoffrey M. Hamilton, 1955-2011)

Socrates

Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher
Who knew how to reason, parse, and think,
Yet he wasn't politically adept enough
To keep the hemlock out of the drink
He was coerced to finally consume,
By order of those above, afraid of the truth,
His morals and honesty sealed his doom...

Payback

Some push through life, waiting to be
Paid, what they believe they are owed,
But the more likely outcome is that they
Will simply reap what they have sowed...

Echoes

Say hey to the plant
Greetings to the chair
Joking with the
Furniture everywhere
Talk back to the TV
In the rarified air
Of a place with
No one there...

Epiphany On A Mountain

Above the rocks, almost floating,
Are yellow, pink, and mystic green,
Miraculous colors, mixing and
Urging to be felt, vice seen...

Primordial Ballgame

I follow sports because
The drama on the field
Releases emotions,
Otherwise concealed,
The joy and the thrill
Of victory summons
Feelings of the kill...

Advice

Too hard to deal
With, let it pass,
Before you feel...

Teambuilders

Women, gathered in groups,
Communicate and chatter,
Soothed by each other's sounds,
The rest doesn't really matter.

Fall Flier

On patrol, gliding
In the autumn skies,
Looking for my
Meal of flies...

 

Purring & Claws

The cat arches it's back,
Stretching and lolling,
On the table's edge
Without ever falling,
Supple and strong,
The napping cat will
Not linger very long,
For soon its mood
Will sneaky-shift to
Hunting for food...

Fast And Furious

For a magic moment,
Driving my car, at speed,
At one with the engine
Is all the meaning I need
Racing down a highway
As light and distance recede...

Murphy's Law Restated

No matter how thoroughly you plan,
Events will conspire towards chaos
And confusion, because they can...

The Good Things Of Life

Going horizontal, often,
Relaxing and napping,
Eating things delicious,
Then satisfactory crapping,
Meditate to the sound of
One hand clapping...

Mundane As Insane

Mesmerized by the seeming sameness
Of it all, all the moments we spend
Wondering, waiting, repeating things,
Habits assuming it will  never end...

Promontory

One gets a sense of perspective,
Being down here, looking up there,
Feeling small, in the long grass,
Alone, in the magic morning air...

Election Time

Politicians are the most egotistical
People you are ever likely to meet,
Some inspire, while others make you
Want to hit the button marked delete,
They surf the waves of influence
And favor, never missing a beat
In their endless quests to make their
Networks of power complete...

家のお化け

Solitude means there is no sound,
Unless you make it, your chance to
Perform, with no one else around,

Solitude means stifling your urge
To run away, and instead accept,
Commune, with the ghosts who emerge...

Overhyped, Overfed

Too much information, fed ceaselessly,
In small colorful chunks, seems to me
To lead to cases of mental obesity...

Life On The Grid

Always connected,
Touch screen, left click,
Need my information,
Need it quick,
Otherwise, I'm lost,
Lonely, sick...

白露

Bell crickets softly sing, as the day
Darkens into night, and the long
Tired grasses bend and sway,
Bowing to the coming cold,
Knowing summer has faded away...

Minute Manager

When action begins to swirl, and
Things aren't going too great,
Sometimes it's best to sit back,
And just let matters percolate...

Counterculture's Failure

Back when my hair was long,
And we were all so sure
The establishment was wrong,
Sending young men, based on
A lottery, against their will,
Into Southeast Asian jungles
To sweat, fight, and kill,
Now, our wars are fought by
Those who want the thrill,
Of releasing unimaginable
Firepower, boom away until,
In a moment of bloody elation
The enemy is destroyed,
Blasted into obliteration...

The Inevitable

When someone leaves, is gone,
One scrambles to fill the void
With photos, clothes, things to
Save what time has destroyed,
Things which continue to exist,
Like a small quiet rebellion,
These ordinary things resist,
Time's unforgiving tyranny
Finding safe places it missed,
Or so it seems, as I hold
On to her robe, smelling her,
Feeling safer, feeling old...