some are made speechless
by falling cherry blossoms,
but -- for others --
speechlessness comes from
a mouthful of the fruits.
Cherry [Kyōka]
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a little bird,
on a bit of driftwood,
speeds downriver
in the dusky, fading light.
doesn’t it know it can fly?

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

a tree’s last blossom
seems to wait til no one
is looking to drop.
what a thing it must be
to see a holdout yield.

the rising sun
hides behind winter trees
as a fat kid
hides behinds a fence post,
fooling no one.

even a stream
charges a toll, and
thwarts cheaters.
step on stone: slip & fall;
sink calf deep: you may pass.

in a city park,
muscular baobabs &
wiry strangler figs
provide residences
for the fierce squirrels.