Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

bamboo, young & supple,
looms over knurly and
stunted hardwoods

noisy parakeets
loop above the neighborhood:
just flockin' around

winter clouds
hang thick and low, but -yet-
 the sun burns through

i’ve seen nettles,
& i’ve felt nettles —
better the former

silent forest.
wind chimes hang stiffly,
as leaves sway

puffy white clouds
seem no less solid 
than gray granite

conscious.
be, do, sleep, repeat…
unconscious.

from the train,
everchanging landscapes…
then i wake up

between boulders
grows a sinewy tree --
robust by ordeals

cactus & bush
harmoniously grow into
one silhouette