High Tree Hawk [Tanka]

the high tree hawk
scans for prey from lofty heights;
the rat scurries -
unaware of far-flung foes,
but side to wall all the same

Parakeets [Haiku]

hanging off a ledge,
parakeets fall into flight
to their next perch

DAILY PHOTO: Lizards in the Shade, Mexico

 

Taken in Mexico (on Isla Contoy) around 2010

DAILY PHOTO: A Macaque Offers Its Opinion of the Weather

Taken in July of 2014 in Kerala

Three Animal Haiku

I
treed monkeys —
each set of roving eyes
finds its own mark


II
a squirrel sniffs,
smelling the plump acorn
beneath damp leaves


III
a housecat
stalks prey, tiger-like,
no-mind / tail-mind

POEM: Crow in a Combative Stance

metallic beak —
rough striations worn smooth
like rough iron, burnished

feet planted wide–
one fore & one back,
in a combative stance

head low —
beak pointed accusatorily,
swiveling to resettle the eye

then, with flapping wings,

it’s gone

DAILY PHOTO: Zebras at Mosi-oa-Tunya

Taken in June of 2017 at Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia

DAILY PHOTO: Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright

Taken in Bannerghatta National Park in November 2013.

DAILY PHOTO: Impala Buck on the Chobe Bank

Taken in June of 2017 by the Chobe River in Botswana.