a tiny island
of blue wildflowers
in a sea of yellow.
Tiny Island [Haiku]
Reply
Tag Archives: poem
Spring Tricks [Haiku]
early Spring leaves,
catching the morning light,
look Autumn yellow.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“Form” [Poetry Style #20] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]
Quit seeking to firm up the soul;
Return to the unadorned truth.
One can seek the shape of water;
One can write of a pleasant spring.
Winds shift the shapes of clouds,
Flowers stand tall, and flowers droop.
The great waves of a sprawling sea,
The mountain's craggy ruggedness...
They all emulate the Great Way.
Every wonderful thing is dust.
Find semblance beyond shape or form.
In this person, the multitudes.
NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a translation of the twentieth of the twenty-four poems. Translated titles vary. This one has been titled “Descriptive” and “Form and Feature” by varied translators.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Raptor Unseen [Haiku]
a hawk screeches
somewhere in the valley,
but remains unseen.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Winter’s Long Shadow [Haiku]
in the mountains,
winter always looms nearby:
green hills, or not.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Dystopian Desolation [Lyric Poem]
A road lined with burnt out junkers,
And garbage fires 'round which hunker
Cold souls sitting in drizzling rain --
That rain, that rain, their eternal bane.
Blue skies are a distant memory --
Except for in every reverie
That denies claustrophobic skies
The main villain role - e'er reprised.
Where's our long-lost hero, the sun?
Have stout clouds got him on the run?
Or maybe our hero 's bleeding out;
Its feeble showing leaves room for doubt.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Sonnet 138 by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]
When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
Oh, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Gloom [Haiku]
clouds advance in waves:
mighty army on the march
set on spreading gloom.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Breeze-Free Beat [Tanka]
the eternal flame
lunges this way and that;
then -- for an instant --
it stands symmetrically:
only one breeze-free beat.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“Snow-flakes” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [w/ Audio]
Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.
Even as our cloudy fancies take
Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels.
This is the poem of the air,
Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 