A Strange Pain [Common Meter]

What is this thing I never saw
   that poked me from nowhere.
 I felt a pain that dripped insane
   and gave me quite a scare.

I know it came from outside-in,
   and not from bones or brain.
 And yet it's not a break, a bruise,
   a lesion, or a sprain. 

Some demon breached a ghost portal,
   and stabbed me from hell's pit
 with an inferno-fired poker...
   oh wait, I'm fine. It quit.

Wildflower Glade [Haiku]

the glade is ringed
in yellow wildflowers:
astir with bees.

DAILY PHOTO: Nature Scenes from the Palace Grounds, Bangalore

PROMPT: Animals

What are your favorite animals?

All the non-human ones are pretty awesome, and even the humans can be tolerable in the proper dosage.

Mexican Sunflower [Haiku]

the sunflower
catches warm afternoon sun,
but bees aren’t impressed.

Flowering Cane [Haiku]

sugarcane waves
with the passing of cars:
silver tassels mussed.

DAILY PHOTO: Tipu’s Gumbaz

PROMPT: Mountains

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

Definitely mountains. The beach has its time. But I have a finite tolerance for heat, sand, and – worst of all – people. Mountains usually have less of all three, and rarely more than two out of three.

DAILY PHOTO: Cauvery River