Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

the monk rode in
 on a bright-eyed tiger, and
  started hulling rice.

clouds drift upon
 mirror clear waters;
  dead tree stillness.

spring gentians
 twirl amid buttercups
  on a green hilltop.

"snow? in mid-Spring!"
 its stay is short, but is felt
  in the porter's bones.

the leaves are gone,
 but the green of moss remains:
  rainy autumn days.

roadside saplings
 take Fall colors for a time,
  before going bare;
 the envy of humans:
 at once young & old.

the cannonball tree:
 blooms bright & intricate, 
  but never delicate.

a bonsai tree:
 gnarled & twisted, 
  yet so strong.

the heron stares at
 the unwitting egret’s back:
  unfond of flatmate?

a bare tree,
 beside the stream,
  sent leaves to the sea:
 how far did they get?
 "beyond eye & mind."