on a barren branch
a raven has perched —-
autumn dusk
“Raven at Dusk” by Matsuo Bashō [w/ Audio]
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Category Archives: poem
DAILY PHOTO: Hill Stairway
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Post Crow [Haiku]
crow on a post,
on rocky desolate ground;
waves lap ashore.
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“Second Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:
Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!
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The Slow Flow [Haiku]
teal mountain stream
flows past rock's fluid striations,
proof flow can be slow.
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Jungle [Common Meter]
They say jungles are chaotic.
I find them as silent
As the world that is aquatic...
Though no less violent.
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“An Akan Lullaby” by Anonymous [w/ Audio]
Someone would like to have you for her child
but you are mine.
Someone would like to rear you on a costly mat
but you are mine.
Someone would like to place you on a camel blanket
but you are mine.
I have you to rear on a torn old mat.
Someone would like to have you as her child
but you are mine.
NOTE: I have no specific author or translator information for this poem. (The former may not be surprising as it may be lost to history.) At any rate, my source is Classic Poems to Read Aloud, an anthology selected by James Berry (1995; Kingfisher Publications,) and it was titled “Lullaby.” That book cites a Cambridge University Press volume entitled African Poetry, edited by Ulli Beier, as its source.
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The Right Angle [Haiku]
overgrown: ruins
hidden from the side are
revealed from above.
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Swimmingly [Lyric Poem]
Moving at a glide --
No strain, no effort,
Rolling side to side,
No lord or escort.
Things are going SWIMMINGLY.
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“Absolute” [Poetry Style #1] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]
With wear you will decay outside,
But inside resides the vital force.
Approach the Absolute through the Void:
One's strength will grow, and vim will course.
You can know the world and its Way,
Across space and time -- to the Source.
To desolation range hang dark clouds,
Air still as latitudes of the horse,
Move beyond all one knows by sight,
And gain the Center -- but not by force --
Hold onto this strength by hook or crook,
And flow the Endless by watercourse.
NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the first of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 雄浑, and its translated titles include: “Energy – Absolute” [Giles] and “Vigorous.”
Tiger Riding for Beginners 