“This World is not Conclusion” (373) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond --
Invisible, as Music --
But positive, as Sound --
It beckons, and it baffles --
Philosophy, dont know --
And through a Riddle, at the last --
Sagacity, must go --
To guess it, puzzles scholars --
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown --
Faith slips - and laughs, and rallies --
Blushes, if any see --
Plucks at a twig of Evidence --
And asks a Vane, the way --
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit --
Strong Hallelujahs roll --
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul --

Golden Hour [Haiku]

sunup hour:
yellow blossoms turn gold;
one flutters to earth.

“The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

A little black thing among the snow,
Crying ''weep! 'weep!' in notes of woe!
'Where are thy father & mother? say?'
'They are both gone up to the church to pray.

'Because I was happy upon the heath,
'And smil'd among the winter's snow,
'They cloth'd me in the clothes of death,
'And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

'And because I am happy & dance & sing,
'They think they have done me no injury,
'And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King,
'Who make up a heaven of our misery.'

Autumn Night [Haiku]

dry leaves skitter
past the temple censer,
colored by lantern.

“Time” by Percy Bysshe Shelley [w/ Audio]

Unfathomable Sea! whose waves are years,
Ocean of Time, whose waters of deep woe
Are brackish with the salt of human tears!
Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow
Claspest the limits of mortality!

And sick of prey, yet howling on for more,
Vomitest thy wrecks on its inhospitable shore;
Treacherous in calm, and terrible in storm,
Who shall put forth on thee,
Unfathomable Sea?

“Spring Rain” by Natsume Sōseki

Spring rain:
a walk amid
wet willows.

Ripples [Haiku]

rocking boat,
splash heard behind --
spin to see... ripples.

The Flood [Haiku]

muddy streets,
after the flood:
bare feet squish.

“Glass was the Street – in Tinsel Peril” (1518) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Glass was the Street - in Tinsel Peril
Tree and Traveller stood.
Filled was the Air with merry venture
Hearty with Boys the Road.

Shot the lithe Sleds like Shod vibrations
Emphacized and gone
It is the Past's supreme italic
Makes the Present mean --