Dragonfly Eye [Lyric Poem]

Photograph taken at Don Mueang Temple in the north Bangkok suburbs, features waterlilies in the fore and guardian statues in the background.
The dragonfly strafing lilies 
doesn't know how very silly
a bantam taller than a ram
seems to a ram tall as a filly.

24/7 Wakeup Call [Lyric Poem]

Photograph taken from Wat Pa Phon Phoa at Luang Prabang, Laos.
In a mountain village,
the roosters crow all day.
Hopes of mid-day napping
are dashed along the way.

Mountain Azalea [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of a cluster of pink Mountain Azalea with barren woods in the background. Taken on the Sawnee Mountain Trail in North Georgia.
One cluster of Mountain Azalea
Stands out like royal regalia,
Adorning a near naked vagrant --
But much more pleasingly fragrant.

White [Lyric Poem]

Against the bright white palace domes
fluffy clouds seem a tad too much,
and so they start to limp on home
like a gimp beggar on his crutch.

PROMPT: Tattoo

Daily writing prompt
What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?
I would not like a tattoo. 
I would not like one - old or new.
I wouldn't like one in a Zoo.
I wouldn't like one in a canoe.
I would not like one,
Ham though I am,
I would not like any body-spam.

Classing It Up [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of "Le Toilet," a Mona Lisa-festooned Port-o-Potty in downtown Decatur, Georgia -- in front of the Old Courthouse.
One can't class up a Porta Potty
With French or fancy works of art.
For each is like a ghetto squatty
Where one fears to sit... or even fart.

Locus [Common Meter]

One clump of flowers has the power
To lure the eye’s focus.
The background blurs as mind infers
Which hue shall be the locus.

Peach Blossoms [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of Peach Blossoms taken in early March in Atlanta's Piedmont Park.
I see the Peach Blossoms of Spring,
And think of old Li Bai’s answer.

In wordless replies, the world sings;
In unpeopled worlds, there’s a dancer.

The referenced poem by Li Bai [李白] is entitled Question and Answer in the Mountains [山中问答] and is crudely translated as:

I'm asked why I live in mountains.
I laugh while giving no reply.

Peach Blossoms flow from sight & mind;
Beyond men, another Earth & Sky.

Or, in Chinese:

问余何意栖碧山,
笑而不答心自闲。

桃花流水窅然去,
别有天地非人间。

Into the Darkness [Lyric]

Photograph taken in the "Tunnel of Nine Turns" (九曲洞) in Taroko Gorge (太鲁阁.)
Shadow-striped --
Juxtaposing day with night,
And wrong with right,
And never with always --
Down the long striped
Hallway...
Until it ends in darkness.

Vagabond [Lyric]

Photograph of a statue of a young vagabond taken at Fo Guang Shan [佛光山,] near Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Each Soul contains its Vagabond 
- Who yearns to travel light & free -
But they load too much baggage on,
Then tether him to a big tree.