Great Mormon [Haiku]

Great Mormon Butterfly [Papilio Memnon]
Great Mormon
flaps its wings spastically,
yet hovers in place.

Farmer’s Walk [Haiku]

Taken near Cat Cat Village (Cat Cat Ban) outside Sa Pa, Vietnam. Farmer on a fallow rice terrace.
hoe on shoulder,
farmer saunters along
a rice terrace.

DAILY PHOTO: Sun Plaza in Sa Pa

Sun Plaza is one of the most imposing buildings in Sa Pa, an otherwise sleepy alpine town in Northern Vietnam. Sun Plaza is located on the southwest corner of Sa Pa Plaza and it contains a shopping center and restaurants. This photo is taken from across the street on Sa Pa Plaza.
Sun Plaza is one of the most imposing buildings in Sa Pa, Vietnam. This photo is taken from Ham Rong, a nearby mountain. From a distance one can see how Sun Plaza dwarfs the other structures in the vicinity.
On the right is Sun Plaza as photographed from the street.

PROMPT: Celebrate

Daily writing prompt
How do you celebrate holidays?

Well, if someone else is doing fireworks, I’ll go see, but I value my fingers and hearing too much to DIY it. But there is nothing like fireworks on Easter to warm the heart. Or on Arbor Day, or National Salsa Dancing Day (March 11th, mark your calendars. Also, don’t confuse it with National Salsa Day — honoring the spicy condiment on May 1st.) Nothing says holiday like fireworks.

Gray [Free Verse]

The sky is gray.
The lake is gray.
The city beyond is gray.

Once so big,
The city is now small,
And I fear fog
Might erase it.

Lantern [Free Verse]

The lightbulb inside
A temple lantern
Shines like the sun:
Backdrop to painted
Branch & blossom...

But the fact that it's lit
Means that it must be
The moon.

That Time of Day [Tanka]

once a day
light from the setting sun gleams
off the gold Buddha,
and shines through a window
across the boulevard.

DAILY PHOTO: Chùa Kim Liên

PROMPT: Cooking Fail

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

A blunder once in a while does not rise to tragedy. I burn toast on a regular basis. Think about that. It’s the most rudimentary culinary activity imaginable, and I fuck it up at least weekly.

To be fair, I think my toaster might be a North Korean imposter, part of a plot to undermine the Western Capitalist world one ruined breakfast at a time.

Twilight River [Haiku]

at twilight,
the glassy river
pretends stillness.