a young skink's
vibrant cobalt blue tail
says, "Not the Face!"
Not the Face! [Senryū]
1

water lilies stand
confidently, while herons
step warily.

a turtle
slips into the water:
no sound / no ripple.

the cormorant,
glistening & dripping,
must air dry
before it’s a bird again;
humans cramp in the pool.

a black crow,
oily & otherworldly,
alights on a rock.

one hundred birds
startle at my presence;
one eyeballs me.

curb crows
stand in a row.
what’s the sky say?