snake wrestles fish
onto rocky home turf, &
blends with sun-warmed stones.
Snake Fisher [Haiku]
2
Category Archives: poem
“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light!
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Winter Sky Fire [Haiku]
the sky is afire,
and, yet, i can see my breath
on chill winter air.
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Clockweed [Haiku]
full bloom clockweed
is on the clock as autumn
ages to winter.
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“In the Desert” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter -- bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
"Because it is bitter,
"And because it is my heart."
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Frogs Heard, Not Seen [Haiku]
grass-rattle, plop!
grass-rattle, plop! -- repeats...
at last, I see a frog.
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Multitasking Youth [Kyōka]
a brave youth
plummets into the stepwell,
all the while
looking like she's on a stroll,
blowing her nose and waving.
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“West River Moon” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]
Wavelet on wavelet glimmers by the shore;
Cloud on cloud dimly appears in the sky.
Unsaddled is my white-jadelike horse;
Drunk, asleep in the sweet grass I'll lie.
My horse's hoofs may break, I'm afraid,
The breeze-rippled brook paved by moonlit jade.
I tether my horse to a bough of green willow.
Near the bridge where I pillow
My head on arms and sleep till the cuckoo's song awakes
A spring daybreak.
Translation: Xu Yuanchong [translator]. 2021. Deep, Deep the Courtyard. [庭院深深.] Cite Publishing: Kuala Lumpur, p. 238
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True Balance [Senryū]
standing on one leg,
steadfast while squirrels mistake
one for a tree.
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Four Seasonal Haiku of Yosa Buson [w/ Audio]
SPRING*
The spring sea;
gently, quietly,
all day long.
SUMMER
what a joy!
wading through summer rivers,
sandals in hand.
AUTUMN
vacant teahouse,
atop the mountain:
a harvest moon.
WINTER
neighbors detest me
for my whistling kettle:
a cold winter night.
* Translation by: Wilson, William Scott. 2023. A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Haiku. Tuttle Publishing: North Clarendon, VT.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 