Pansy Patch [Haiku]

pansy patch:
rabbit noses out,
sniffing air.

“Ox” by Ikkyū [w/ Audio]

Among other creatures this is what I was.
Abilities depend on the realm;
realm also depends on abilities.
At birth I forgot completely by which path
I came.
I don't know, these years, which school
of monk I am.

Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider in Essential Zen. 1994. HarperSanFrancisco.

Cobbles [Haiku]

on the cobbles
of an ancient city,
sparrows peck.

Land at Rest [Haiku]

the land rests
after the harvest;
birds feed on remnants.

Hilltop Temple [Haiku]

hilltop temple
comes into view
to a crow CAW!

Coiled [Haiku]

neck coiled,
egret hovers stock still
to snap up a fish.

Silent Autumn [Haiku]

cows graze
amid rice stalks --
silently.

“To a Marsh Hawk in Spring” by Henry David Thoreau [w/ Audio]

There is health in thy gray wing,
Health of nature's furnishing.
Say, thou modern-winged antique,
Was thy mistress ever sick?
In each heaving of thy wing
Thou dost health and leisure bring,
Thou dost waive disease and pain
And resume new life again.

Winter Rooster [Senryū]

winter morn:
rooster starts crowing
way too early.

The Avian Unseen [Haiku]

sunup:
roosters crow, birds chirp -
all unseen.