City Sonnet

A million lives are packed in this city,
and each one struggles to be its own self:
the starving, rotund, ugly, and pretty --
the tailored and those who buy off-the-shelf.

And everyone fails, yet they all succeed
in being different, while being alike.
And they all heal, while they also all bleed,
and almost all would survive a first strike.

Everyone knows someone - just not neighbors.
They love to remain enigmatic at home,
while transparent with those who share labors --
though some want everyone to leave them alone.

A city is a strange place full of strangers,
and those who choose it thrive on its dangers.

Accidental Travel [Sonnet]

If you can follow rivers to the sea
by drifting without thrashing or grasping --
just let the flow take you upon a spree,
a spree of dunk and breathe, without gasping,

then you will witness all there is to know.
You'll see shaky shanties and vast estates,
the birds in flight and creatures: fast and slow,
the weeping willows, and fish tempting Fates.

If you can roll around the rocks -- always --
and never crack your head and silence all
the voices saying you've reached your end-days,
and never rush and never, ever stall...

If you can do all this and keep the flow,
it won't matter you don't know which way you go.

Shadow of Night [Haiku]

a park at night.
the shadows are darker
because of the light

Rivers Merge [Free Verse]

Rivers merge.

Trees may fork,
but rivers merge.

True, sometimes rivers split
to form an island,
and when they near the sea
they may branch out 
like the roots of a tree.

How the river knows 
it's near the sea
is unclear to me,
but it is the river's nature.

As is the tendency 
of rivers to merge
toward unity of flow.

But what is my nature? 

Tattered Dandelion [Haiku]

one dandelion
stands alone at field's edge;
where are its friends?

Cattail [Haiku]

the cattail sways
with a unique rhythm,
but - now - is still

Diamond Water [Haiku]

the day is cold,
but the sun is out, and 
the water sparkles

Graveyard Autumn [Haiku]

graves in autumn.
under red-leafed trees --
soon to be bare

Ghost Backdrop [Haiku]

the stone statue
in the fore feels more real than
the stone wall in fog