Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

askew tombstones
 under a yawning tree:
  a crow on its branch.

a veiny leaf
 is at once orderly and
  fingerprint unique.

a shrine watches
 over a calm harbor as 
  storm winds buffet.

over a ridge,
 and a sprawling city grows 
  into my wilderness.

tattered butterfly
 comes to rest after a
  spastic last dance.

the rocky tip
 of grass-coiffed outcrop
  is all I see,
 but the sound of a crow's "CAW!"
 comes through loud & clear.

"the trees are green!"
 except when blue, white, or black:
  in morning sun,
 in peak sun, in moonlight,
 under dense clouds, or no clouds.

langur in a tree
 remains still as others flee;
  it seems to know
 my limitations as well as
 its own capabilities.

A thick cloud nestled into the
   valley down below,
 I wonder if the forager 
   in that streambed knows
   that it's sunny above.