Bear [Lyric Poem]

Walking down a trail, I had quite a scare --
For walking straight towards me was a big ole bear.
It glanced at me, and then down at its feet,
Then that speciesist bear had the nerve to cross the street.

Macaque [Lyric Poem]

I feared a big macaque attack
As I walked by, turning my back.
Though its expression seemed ill-meaning,
I turned to see it was still preening.

“Silk-Washing Stream” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]

Stream-washed leaves are glistening.
Someone is boiling cocoons.
Workers gossip, I'm listening.

Dim-eyed man with a cane spoons
Food into a bowl, bending
To pass it before I swoon.

I ask when the bean leaves yellow.

“Grown about by Fragrant Bushes” by Robert Louis Stevenson [w/ Audio]

Grown about by Fragrant bushes,
Sunken in a winding valley,
Where the clear winds blow
And the shadows come and go,
And the cattle stand and low
And the sheep bells and the linnets
Sing and tinkle musically.
Between the past and the future,
Those two black infinities
Between which our brief life
Flashes a moment and goes out.

“Of Glory not a Beam is left” (1685) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Of Glory not a Beam is left
But her Eternal House --
The Asterisk is for the Dead,
The Living, for the Stars --

Deer [Lyric Poem]

In the forest, I saw a deer;
It sniffed the air with urgent fear...,
And then resumed its feeding,
Finding the threat of me misleading.

“The Little Boy Lost” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

Father, father, where are you going
O do not walk so fast.
Speak father, speak to your little boy
Or else I shall be lost,

The night was dark no father was there
The child was wet with dew,
The mire was deep, & the child did weep
And away the vapour flew.

Black Mamba [Lyric Poem]

The Black Mamba is not black...
Well, it's black inside its mouth,
But if you're getting that view,
Things have definitely gone south.

“The morns are meeker than they were” (32) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

The morns are meeker than they were --
The nuts are getting brown --
The berry's cheek is plumper --
The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf --
The field a scarlet gown --
Lest I sh'd be old-fashioned
I'll put a trinket on.

Rhino [Lyric Poem]

Away trots a baby rhino.
It's the smallest rhino that I know,
And, yet, if it trotted on your foot,
Your foot would definitely be kaput.