What’s in a Name? [Kyōka]

Pantropical Jumping Spider
i was brave
when facing this spider,
until I learned
that within its name
was the word, "Jumping"

Swallowtail [Kyōka]

a swallowtail lands;
crashed into by another,
it doesn't flinch;
ten feet away, I lean in
and it flutters away

The Murder [Kyoka]

a murder of crows
congregates on the concrete,
and I feel angst.
sure, I’m smarter than a crow…
but smarter than the murder?

Belly Wisdom [Kyōka]

the snake 
feels my footfalls
through its belly,
and i, too, feel its 
movement in my belly

Hawk Kyōka

I watch the hawk
as it sits, watching me
It turns away first,
knowing I can't reach it
nor see it as it sees me

POEM: Humbling Rest [PoMo Day 12 – Kyōka]

panting, i sit
on a rock, beside the trail,
watching porters pass 
loaded with logs and plywood --
followed by cows, and goats, and...

Three Kyōka of Animal Aggression

I
three monkeys
look down from a high branch;
one throws a pit;
a tourist dodges left,
right into the pit’s path

 

II
a goose struts,
then wheels about – wings flaring –
Karate Kid,
but standing on both legs —
feint with foot, jab with beak

 

III
a llama
spits in some poor girl’s face
as if she
were Hitler or Kim Jong-Un
classy, Llama, real classy

Three Ugly Kyōka

I
a gnarled branch
twists its sinewy limb
from a crag;
its grotesque beauty
reminds me of me


II
reflections
on the rice paddies
show the sky
in an angry gray,
but dampen its scowl


III
glacier melt
leaves a great scar
gouged in the earth;
the gray and brown wound
looks like man’s doing