Reassurance and some peace of mind,
To see the white-feathered guests
Return, yet again, in late autumn,
From the frigid northwest.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A Glimpse Of Hope
Reassurance and some peace of mind,
To see the white-feathered guests
Return, yet again, in late autumn,
From the frigid northwest.
Turkey Tetrazzini
Post-Thanksgiving feasting
On big-bird leftovers, and more,
Which taste mo-better than on
The more famous day before...
Gobbling down a tasty mess,
Without the guests and family stress...
On big-bird leftovers, and more,
Which taste mo-better than on
The more famous day before...
Gobbling down a tasty mess,
Without the guests and family stress...
Japanese Stage Art
In Japan they perform
A play called "Kabuki",
A high form of art,
But the make-up is spooky.
A Few Haiku From Issa Kobayashi
長閑や雨後の縄ばり庭雀
nodokeshi ya ugo no nawabari niwa suzume
spring peace--
after rain, a gang war
garden sparrows
* * * * * * * * * *
鶯にだまって居らぬ雀かな
uguisu ni damatte iranu suzume kana
not hushing up
for the nightingale...
sparrows
* * * * * * * * * *
万ざいや門に居ならぶ鳩雀
manzai ya kado ni inarabu hato suzume
begging actors at the gate--
pigeons and sparrows
in a row
* * * * * * * * * *
起よ起よ雀はおどる蝶はまふ
oki yo oki yo suzume wo odoru chô wa mau
wake up! wake up!
sparrows, butterflies
are dancing
nodokeshi ya ugo no nawabari niwa suzume
spring peace--
after rain, a gang war
garden sparrows
* * * * * * * * * *
鶯にだまって居らぬ雀かな
uguisu ni damatte iranu suzume kana
not hushing up
for the nightingale...
sparrows
* * * * * * * * * *
万ざいや門に居ならぶ鳩雀
manzai ya kado ni inarabu hato suzume
begging actors at the gate--
pigeons and sparrows
in a row
* * * * * * * * * *
起よ起よ雀はおどる蝶はまふ
oki yo oki yo suzume wo odoru chô wa mau
wake up! wake up!
sparrows, butterflies
are dancing
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunk In Anger
Upon seeing Cheonan...
How could a gas bubble
From below, cause
Such deadly trouble...
A bubble? You may
Snort a disbelieving laugh,
But, the fact is that
It cut the ship in half.
Paternal Issue
A father's love for his teen-age son,
Deep and real, but under-expressed,
A pat on the shoulder, and then it's done,
An awkward hug cut-short, lest
Feelings are released, which are best
Left quiet, discouraged to fly or run...
Deep and real, but under-expressed,
A pat on the shoulder, and then it's done,
An awkward hug cut-short, lest
Feelings are released, which are best
Left quiet, discouraged to fly or run...
On and on...
What tomorrow will bring,
No one really knows,
Best laid plans meet chance
And fate -- So it goes...
No one really knows,
Best laid plans meet chance
And fate -- So it goes...
International Conference
A three-way mental truce
Declared after painful
Negotiations in a cultural-
Linguistic thicket; while gainful
Employment will be conferred
On those who follow, to
Correct where we have erred.
Declared after painful
Negotiations in a cultural-
Linguistic thicket; while gainful
Employment will be conferred
On those who follow, to
Correct where we have erred.
White Night
Drive-gliding, quiet and smooth,
On and through the new-falling snow,
The snow a gift from an arctic
North, to places way below,
Like where I am driving now,
In a rented Nissan, rolling slow
And careful on the cold white-
Carpeted street, so peaceful, although
I'm also afraid and straining
To remember long-unused winter
Navigation skills to finish the remaining
Miles safely to my warm empty room...
On and through the new-falling snow,
The snow a gift from an arctic
North, to places way below,
Like where I am driving now,
In a rented Nissan, rolling slow
And careful on the cold white-
Carpeted street, so peaceful, although
I'm also afraid and straining
To remember long-unused winter
Navigation skills to finish the remaining
Miles safely to my warm empty room...
Comfort
The secret that my mother knows,
Of how to provide peace through food:
Meatloaf, gravy, beans, and potatoes.
Of how to provide peace through food:
Meatloaf, gravy, beans, and potatoes.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
November's Gift
Lay me down on the fallen leaves,
Under an autumn sky so blue,
It almost hurts my eyes to see
The beauty, which cuts through
The dullness of a nameless day...
Blue, orange, and gold undo
The blindfold, and open a way
To slowdown, stop, then lie
Down on the leaves, orange and gold,
Like I used to do, before I got
Too busy, too cultured, too old...
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Ancient Peace -- 諏訪大神社
Up a hill from the busy road,
And the bustling sound
Of peoples' commerce and sin,
Is a quiet place with no one around,
Made 600 years before the moment I'm in,
Where I sit alone, on holy ground...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Ancestors' Forgotten Warning
On a bluff, above the utter devastation
Wrought by the giant ocean surge
Of an awful earthquake’s creation,
Stands a small and ancient stone
Monument, which, once weeds were
Cleared, its message was shown…
Anxious words, carved long ago into
Its weathered face, trying to mitigate
From centuries ago, the awful fate
And future pain and watery death for
Those who now arrived, and read too late,
For those, now homeless or alone:
“Don’t build your homes below this stone.”
Christmas Decorations Already Up
Japanese businesses, retailers, and local governments WASTE NO TIME getting Holiday decorations on display -- The day after Halloween, bam!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Better Than X-Box
Hunting, in the rugged hills
And valleys of a dusty
Distant land, which kills
The careless -- Searching
For the men hunting for me,
Brutal blood sport thrills
Pursued kinetically, relentlessly,
By high-school graduates,
Valley-to-valley, door-to-door,
What more excitement
Could a young man ask for…
Occupy Someting
Occupy Wall Street was fraying
With mind-game squabbles,
Frustrated cops, faction versus faction,
But it all came together when,
During a quiet pause in the action,
A dude stands-up and hollers
“Hey Mr. Rich Man, what the hell
do you do with a billion dollars?!
Do you finger it, count it, roll in it,
Make love to it -- you can’t spend
It all before your lifetime’s end!
Hey Mr. Rich Man it’s time to repent,
Give your gold to the 99 percent!”
With mind-game squabbles,
Frustrated cops, faction versus faction,
But it all came together when,
During a quiet pause in the action,
A dude stands-up and hollers
“Hey Mr. Rich Man, what the hell
do you do with a billion dollars?!
Do you finger it, count it, roll in it,
Make love to it -- you can’t spend
It all before your lifetime’s end!
Hey Mr. Rich Man it’s time to repent,
Give your gold to the 99 percent!”
Near The Refugee Camp Gate
Coming out of their place,
On the United Nations bus,
I see such a scared and pretty face,
Her beauty penetrates to my bones;
But she’s one of them, not one us…
And we start throwing stones.
On the United Nations bus,
I see such a scared and pretty face,
Her beauty penetrates to my bones;
But she’s one of them, not one us…
And we start throwing stones.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Alien Vapors
The spacemen arrived in a mysterious way
Around sunset, descending silently,
Coming from a planet far, far, away...
And once aground, dispersed on the winds,
To someplace hidden they remain to this day.
Monday, October 31, 2011
My Day Off
Finally a day off!
But instinctively I reach
For the Blackberry
= = = = = = = = = =
At my desk, Tele-working,
Trying to show
I can write clear syntax,
Despite the Merlot.
= = = = = = = = = =
The small delicious pleasure
Of sitting on a week-day
Watching others go to work...
But instinctively I reach
For the Blackberry
= = = = = = = = = =
At my desk, Tele-working,
Trying to show
I can write clear syntax,
Despite the Merlot.
= = = = = = = = = =
The small delicious pleasure
Of sitting on a week-day
Watching others go to work...
Tool In The Shed
As I get older, I am becoming more a of "flourescent light" -- i.e., there tends to be a bit of flickering before my light comes on -- so, in the spirit of poking fun at those of us who now, more often than not, experience some "Senior Moments", here are some great & pithy descriptions of "dumb"...
1. A few peas short of a casserole.
2. Fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
3. Driveway doesn't quite reach the road.
4. As smart as bait.
5. Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
6. Forgot to pay his brain bill.
7. The logs are ablaze but the chimney is clogged.
8. The hard drive is spinning but the OS hasn't been installed.
9. If you stand close enough to them you can hear the sea.
10. Has a full six-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy that holds them all together.
11. Any slower and he'd need to be watered once a week.
12. His cornbread isn't done in the middle.
1. A few peas short of a casserole.
2. Fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
3. Driveway doesn't quite reach the road.
4. As smart as bait.
5. Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
6. Forgot to pay his brain bill.
7. The logs are ablaze but the chimney is clogged.
8. The hard drive is spinning but the OS hasn't been installed.
9. If you stand close enough to them you can hear the sea.
10. Has a full six-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy that holds them all together.
11. Any slower and he'd need to be watered once a week.
12. His cornbread isn't done in the middle.
Re-Inventing The Wheel
To me, it's a mystery,
Why humans keep repeating
The screw-ups of history,
Ignoring what was earned
Through hard-knocks and pain,
Forgetting lessons-learned,
Till they're re-taught again...
This not just about nations,
But the family, the office,
Us grinders, of all stations...
6 Maxims From Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
1. All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions: (1) What can I know? (2) What ought I to do? (3) What may I hope?
2. Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.
3. If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.
4. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.
5. Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
6. Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.
2. Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.
3. If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.
4. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.
5. Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
6. Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.
Warm Room With A Special Friend
Oh, how I love to sit beside her,
Good conversation,
With hard pumpkin cider...
Good conversation,
With hard pumpkin cider...
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