Digesting Empire [Haiku]

carcass of Empire
is overwhelmed by nature;
rewilded in time

Firecracker Flowers [Haiku]

firecracker flowers
pop amid a twiggy scene
with explosive shapes

Indy Limerick

There was an old man from Indianapolis
who - about the big race - was passionless,
"it's far too many miles
goin' nowhere with style;
I wish I'd been born in Minneapolis!"

Sun Wukong [Common Meter]

The Monkey King with magic staff
outmatched monsters and gods,
defying the Jade Emperor's
edicts against all odds.

He erased himself from out of 
The Book of Life and Death,
and lived through the Crucible --
nearly holding his breath.

Finally, the gods called Buddha,
though some had their qualms,
but the one thing Monkey couldn't do
was leap from Buddha's palm.

Mottled Maple [Haiku]

each mottled leaf
displays unique artistry;
green ones all look the same

Cloud Palette [Haiku]

the setting sun 
paints clouds with a broad palette,
bright white to ink black

Shakespeare Clerihew

The Bard, the great William Shakespeare,
made stony souls feel love, hate, and fear,
but I'll cease to dote,
in case he never wrote...

A Farmer’s Reverie [Haiku]

with field cleared,
the farmer leans on his scythe,
and eyes cloud figures

Squirrel Grind [Common Meter]

The squirrel's life 's an acorn hunt:
forage and hide the nut.
But a feeble mind requires that
it hide them by the glut.

Squirrel happiness is fragile
no cache is big enough
to be certain it'll make it through
should the winter get rough. 

Oh, give me the tardigrade life,
not a doubt it'll survive.
No food, no water, vacuum of space
and the thing 's still [bleeping] alive.

Rather than gathering plenty,
I'd rather need much less,
or, at least, not be so mindless
to hoard in great excess.