Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

the monkey sage sits —
not napping, but looking so,
on the temple wall

an orb weaver
sets its trap by trail’s edge, &
catches one gawker

two roosters
on a paddy dike:
a flash of black

a sunflower
— deformed and stunted —
still brightens my day

a desert rose:
its base stout & misshapen;
its blooms elegant

twisted skeletons 
of once thriving trees stand
in the temple yard

waves crash 
against the cliff base,
& are turned back

bright beach summer.
the sand is everywhere,
and i don’t care.

flowers glow brightly 
in the sunset’s low light,
and then go dark

spring flowers
hang limply, after
the downpour