budding limbs:
vibrant growth unseen from
the city beyond.
Budding [Senryū]
Reply
Category Archives: poem
“On Laozi” by Bai Juyi [w/ Audio]
"The ignorant speak, while the wise keep silent."
I read the words of Laozi.
But if Laozi knew the Way,
Why did he write those five thousand characters?
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Creekside Wildflowers [Haiku]
wildflowers sway
over the creek's cool water,
stirred by thermals.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“Conscientious Objector” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
I shall die, but
that is all that I shall do for Death.
I hear him leading his horse out of the stall;
I hear the clatter on the barn-floor.
He is in haste; he has business in Cuba,
business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning.
But I will not hold the bridle
while he clinches the girth.
And he may mount by himself:
I will not give him a leg up.
Though he flick my shoulders with his whip,
I will not tell him which way the fox ran.
With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where
the black boy hides in the swamp.
I shall, die, but that is all that I shall do for Death;
I am not on his pay-roll.
I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends
nor of my enemies either.
Though he promise me much,
I will not map him the route to any man's door.
Am I a spy in the land of the living,
that I should deliver men to Death?
Brother, the password and the plans of our city
are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Swamphens [Haiku]
swamphens strut
at water’s edge, and
i’m a farmboy again.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Last Hurrah [Haiku]
late afternoon sun
catches yellow bloom clusters:
the day’s last hurrah.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [w/ Audio]
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Lakeside Leaves [Haiku]
lakeside leaves are
turning and dropping, but
no floaters remain.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Yielding to the Flow [Free Verse]
A slender leaf
floats downstream.
Its tip touches
a stouter leaf,
sending the
slender leaf
spinning.
The leaf continues to
twist as it drifts,
Making it seem spastic,
but it neither rushes
nor dawdles.
It matches the flow,
letting gravity &
currents do all the work.
It races only when it
plunges through
a narrow channel,
But it downshifts just as
effortlessly as the
stream widens.
The leaf's action is
unforced, yielding to
energy imparted upon it.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Killing Bliss [Free Verse]
I found bliss.
And cooked it on the
simmer setting
of my soul --
That vacant hole that
I let swell with color
and light.
My only worry was that
it would flash fry all
that I am.
But one worry is enough
to kill the joy,
to kill everything vibrant
& reckless within.
The bliss was quenched,
and it steamed & sizzled,
and all I could hear was its
deafening sound.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 