Firethorn Overladen [Haiku]

lopsided firethorn
remains unbowed despite
the weight of berries

DAILY PHOTO: Church of Perpetual Adoration [Örökimádás Oltáriszentség templom]

Taken in November of 2022 in Budapest

A Day in the Life of a Hobo [Free Verse]

I saw an old man
nestled in a nook
beside the sidewalk,

a plastic jug
of night diesel
beside well-worn,
second-hand boots,

combing greasy hair
with parted fingers,

and rubbing his eyes -
child-style -
with loose fists.

He was awake at an hour
to get to a job
that he didn’t have.

Instead, he’d amble / stagger
along the riverside,

taking frequent stops
to taste the bathtub concoction
made in the bathtub
that he didn’t have.

And somewhere,
at some undefined hour,
he’d drift into
a restless death-slumber
to repeat it all again —
“Groundhog Day” style.

Cave Organ [Haiku]

the cave columns 
grow by drips - one particle
at a time

DAILY PHOTO: Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library: Outside & In

Taken on November 3, 2022 in Budapest

Yellow Shadow

The fallen leaves
of a sheltered tree

form a shadow
made of yellow,

a pointillist shadow
painted yellow,

‘til the wind blows
angled and low

to send that shadow
on its way -

or ‘til the leaves
turn brown and crisp…

whichever comes first.

Piercing Light [Haiku]

in autumn,
sunlight pierces the depths
of the forest

DAILY PHOTO: Lehel Market, Budapest

Taken on November 2, 2022 in Budapest

Blue, the Happy Color [Lyric Poem]

The sun is out after
days of gray,
and no fog or cloud stands
in my way

of seeing skies of blue.

Black Hole [Kyōka]

deep in the cave,
there’s a hole that knows no light;
everything
and nothing can reside
within that black hole