Mountain Fog [Free Verse]

fogged in at a teahouse,
a growing gray of view,

this world lacks 
sharp lines,
excepting the hint of:

-a sloping roofline
&
-a building's corner

 these lines are 
sharp relative to
the amorphous gray;

but fuzzy compared to 
the same line's clarity 
on a blue sky day

now,
they're blurred, 
as if the village
had been painted by a
skilled - but lazy -
painter,

a sumi-e master
with a melancholy soul

Minimalist [Haiku]

 hand-weigh each thing
as if deciding whether
it's worth packing

DAILY PHOTO: Umiew River

Taken in April of 2017 on the David Scott Trail

DAILY PHOTO: Dhavalappan Giri

Taken near Chandravalli Cave on September 10, 2021

DAILY PHOTO: Kazakh Wildflowers, Medeu

Taken at Medeu, Kazakhstan in August of 2019

Walking [Common Meter]

The columns of the forest lift
the vaulted canopy.
I walk down below on the trail
that parts understory.

Each step through the loam brings me home
to barefoot days of yore.
When I thought nothing of placing
skin to the forest floor --

while letting the woods become me
as I grew into it;
I would yield my identity.
To nature, I'd submit.

And in a walk, I did become
everything and nothing,
falling into a peace at once
humbling and stunning.

DAILY PHOTO: Forest Path

Taken in August of 2011 in Arabia Mountain Park

The Perils of Watching One’s Step [Tanka]

looking down
from blue skies and sparse clouds 
my next look up
the ceiling has lowered
and rain is on its way

DAILY PHOTO: Evergreens & Mountains, Karakol NP

Taken in Karakol National Park in 2019

DAILY PHOTO: Mountain Creek

Taken in Himachal Pradesh in June of 2015