Sonnet 138 by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
Oh, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

Gloom [Haiku]

clouds advance in waves:
mighty army on the march
set on spreading gloom.

Breeze-Free Beat [Tanka]

the eternal flame
lunges this way and that;
then -- for an instant --
it stands symmetrically:
only one breeze-free beat.

“Snow-flakes” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [w/ Audio]

Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take
Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,
Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.

Spider Hibiscus [Haiku]

spider hibiscus
dangles over the pond;
like an ornate lure.

“Much Madness is divinest Sense” (620) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness --
'Tis the Majority
In this, as all, prevail --
Assent -- and you are sane --
Demur -- you're straightway dangerous --
And handled with a Chain --

Kapok [Haiku]

the stout limbs
of a kapok tree,
stretch immovably.

Low Light [Tanka]

the color blobs
cast onto floor & wall
by stained glass light
are brightest just before
the sun drops out of sight.

“Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors” by William Butler Yeats [w/ Audio]

What they undertook to do 
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.

Quiet Valley [Haiku]

a quiet valley,
sheltered from the world:
flowers rivet monks.