Shadowlands [Haiku]

Photograph of Vang Vieng, Laos at sundown.
pale orange skies
over dark silhouetted
shadowlands.

Superabundance of Buddhas [Free Verse]

Photograph taken inside a Buddhist Temple in Luang Prabang, Laos.
The reclining Buddha oversees
the diligent seated Buddha.

Is this an analogy of the mind,
or just a monk's proclivity
toward a superabundance
of Buddhas?

Angry Skies [Haiku]

Taken in Luang Namtha in Northern Laos, near the border with China.
orange-fringed
dark clouds drift in blue skies
just before dusk.

Ducks in a Bunch [Haiku]

Waterfowl on Rudrasagar Lake in Melaghar, India.
clustered armada
of ducks drift across
open water.

Iconic [Free Verse]

Bruce Lee statue by Cao Chong-En located on the Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Everyone gets to be a person,
Few become icons:

What is it to have a lasting
image more well-known
than one's work?

Che Guevara, Bruce Lee,
Heath Ledger's Joker --

Images you can find on
back-alley walls from Lagos
to Prague to Kochi
to Seoul to Santiago
and back again.

Seen day-after-day by people
who never saw Enter the Dragon
or read of the Cuban Revolution,
or saw Nolan's Batman Trilogy,
but they know the faces.

They have thoughts about them
-- and, sometimes, strong feelings --
just like so many people have
thoughts about Alexander the Great
based solely on his name
and a rough impression of history.

What must this be...
blessing or curse ...
if icons had some way to care?

Stray Cat [Senryū]

Photograph of a stray cat taken Sri Someshwar Swami Temple in Halasur, Bangalore, India.
lean & scratched up: 
stray cat stares at a leaf
as if it's ham.

Glazed Acorn [Haiku]

Winter storm
ices over acorns:
branches hang low.

Invaders [Haiku]

Photograph taken in Tbilisi, Georgia near Tbilisi Reservoir in Late Spring.
Spring glade:
small patch of light blue nests
in a yellow sea.

Redbud [Haiku]

Photograph taken in Tbilisi, Georgia in late Spring. The pink flower buds appear to be from a Redbud tree.
dense clusters
of pink flower buds
brighten the trail.