Seed of Ambition [Tanka]

over the river,
a seed pod twirls toward
the creeping waters,
and thus a lazy seed
will hitch a thousand miles

DAILY PHOTO: Forest Path

Taken in August of 2011 in Arabia Mountain Park

Bone Mountain [Haibun]

The landscape is strewn with boulders, its topography formed from piles of them, its flat fields dotted with them. These boulders are the remnants of a once mighty mountain -- an ancient mountain. 

People stand in awe of those rough, angular slabs of granite, standing a mile high. But those are the young whippersnappers. 

This mountain is so old that it's just a pile of bones, devoid of connective tissue or fleshy covering. It's a corpse of a mountain that has half buried itself.


the ancient mountain
is now bone-smooth boulders
its age unsung

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

Desert Colors [Haiku]

in the desert,
color blooms in dense clumps
among scrubby sands

DAILY PHOTO: Macal River, Belize

Taken near San Ignacio, Belize around 2010 [From Hawkesworth Bridge]

DAILY PHOTO: Evergreens & Mountains, Karakol NP

Taken in Karakol National Park in 2019

POEM: Ripples & Stillness

ripples expand
from some unseen center
where a fish feeds,
and when stillness returns
i welcome its short life

DAILY PHOTO: Rocky River, The Tungabhadra

Taken at Hampi in November of 2013

DAILY PHOTO: Dome of Rock, from Channagiri Hill

Taken in July of 2020 from Channagiri Hill