POEM: The Other Side

Posted on April 9, 2018 by B Gourley

one never, ever, crests a rise

without killing off a pack of lies

the ugly lie: it’s all descent

belied by cold, granite torment

the pretty lie: continued gloom

skewered by rhododendrons in full bloom

POEM: Amboseli

Posted on April 4, 2018 by B Gourley

belly-deep in glacial runoff

amid an emerald sea

a mud-caked troupe of elephants

the marsh free of acacia trees

Kilimanjaro looms in the distance

the source of all subsistence

if it should go

they’ll never know

it’s a death they can’t outdistance

Sky Haiku

Posted on April 1, 2018 by B Gourley

moonlight
so bright silence
can’t be heard

azure sky
one puffy cloud
dances through

Andean night
the pinpoints I knew
a smear of color

Himalaya
so close that heaven
reveals its color

low gray clouds
leaf chaos unleashed
smell of rain

Bamboo Haiku

Posted on March 9, 2018 by B Gourley

bamboo copse
groans in subtle wind
no space between

crows rule

the bamboo arch

over the road

bamboo grove
carpeted in grainy beige
alien landscape

plastic cup

gripped in crow’s beak

frat boy style

pink blossoms
will soon bleed onto
bamboo pollen

Desert Haiku

Posted on March 2, 2018 by B Gourley

Cubes of sand
Tumble on a tiny scale
Scouring history

Camel lurches
Only in a land of sand
could it kneel

Grain of sand
Do you miss the sea
from whence you came?

Bleached bones
Sandblasted lopsided
How will you go?

Wind blown
zebra stripes in the sand
Nature’s echo

Dubai

Mountain Haiku

Posted on February 28, 2018 by B Gourley

pounding drums
echo down the valley
birds calm

deep breath
fog dissipates
common peril

fog follows
will it catch us
before the pass

cow grazes
on the high trail
dispiriting

glaciers glow
in sunrise orange
forge iron, not

on the ridge
falls can be lethal
worth it