Dusky Winter Scene [Haiku]

church at dusk
looks shuttered and vacant, then
door creak, candle flame

“The Little Boy Found” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

The little boy lost in the lonely fen,
Led by the wand'ring light,
Began to cry; but God, ever nigh,
Appear'd like his father in white.

He kissed the child & by the hand led
And to his mother brought,
Who in sorrow pale, thro' the lonely dale,
Her little boy weeping sought.

Tough Pink Blooms [Haiku]

flower cluster hangs
through a cold December --
the last leaf lone gone.

“What Was Her Blondness Like” by Juhász Gyula [w/ Audio]

What was her blondness like? I can't recall,
But I do know the blondness of the fields,
When the wheat fields' grain ripen in the Fall,
And in this blondness her presence I feel.

What were her blue eyes like, I can't recall,
But I do know the blueness of the sky,
September morn, or later in the Fall,
And then again I do feel her nearby.

What was her silky voice like? Can't remember,
But in springtime, when fields begin to sigh,
I feel that Anna's voice is calling, tender,
From a past Spring that's as far as the sky.

Translation by Frank Veszely in: Hungarian Poetry: One Thousand Years. 2023. Manitoba, CA: Friesen Press.

Modest Sun [Haiku]

rising sun looms
at first sight; but shrinks
on second glance.

“Water” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

The water understands
Civilization well;
It wets my foot, but prettily,
It chills my life, but wittily,
It is not disconcerted,
It is not broken-hearted:
Well used, it decketh joy,
Adorneth, doubleth joy:
Ill used, it will destroy,
In perfect time and measure
With a face of golden pleasure
Elegantly destroy.

Clipper [Haiku]

jungle butterfly
finds a spotlight
to warm its back.

Movement [Haiku]

a barge creeps
out of the fog:
winter river.

Sonnet 87 by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

Farewell, thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know'st thy estimate.
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing:
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
For how do I hold thee but by thy granting,
And for that riches where is my deserving?
The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
And so my patent back again is swerving.
Thyself thou gav'st, thy own worth then not knowing,
Or me, to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking;
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.
Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter:
In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.

Ice Fringe [Haiku]

ice crystals fringe
the stems of seedpods
that rattle in wind.