Tag Archives: poem

City Swallowed [Haibun]

Posted on by
1 
Rubble cubes lie like piled dice. Temples and throne halls collapsed into mossy blocks brought low by the meager -- if inexorable -- forces of water drips and grass roots, roots that became wedges, splitting stone from stone. People push the blocks back together in homage to ancestors, but turn one's back and the hungry jungle consumes. Those ancestors crafted such sturdy stuff out of stout stone blocks. How much more quickly will our planned obsolescent cities be swallowed?


stout stone blocks -
toppled, dissolved, buried -
a city swallowed

Rishikesh Limerick

Posted on by
Reply 
A visitor to scenic Rishikesh
met a wandering bovine in the flesh.
It's only notable
cuz it sought a table
in a mo-mo joint of old Rishikesh.

Tree & Pond [Haibun]

Posted on by
Reply 
Beside a pond, a tree reaches, its branches stretched wide and skyward, blocking the harsh cloud-penetrating rays. Locals sit on the lush grass, their backsides wet, their backs resting on the rough and slanting trunk. They watch ripples echo outward from the mouth tips of feeding fish, those concentric rings etched into in the mirrored waters - and yet moving. In time, watchers will become ripple mesmerized, and will experience the stiff twitch and head nods of an impending nap.


sitting pondside,
ripples from feeding fish
lull my mind

Mumbai Limerick

Posted on by
3 
There once was a dabbawalla from Mumbai,
carrying curry, rice, roti, and dal fry,
got hit by an auto
whose driver was blotto,
but still made his deliveries on time.

Debrecen Limerick

Posted on by
2 
An old organist from Debrecen
couldn't decide which organ to play when.
The big church had two -
one old and one new,
and they sat them at opposite ends.

Boxing Day Blues [Poem]

Posted on by
2 
the clash of colors and thunderous noise
the box, the paper, the Christmas day toys

the scree of excitement lies, toppled down
and all that's left is our cold, silent town

Aphorisms for Our Age of Anxiety

Posted on by
4 
1.) No one has ever been mocked, insulted, or beaten into the best version of themselves.

2.) The brain sticks little value labels on everything, labels that have no real existence - but very real consequences.

3.)Whatever else one may be, life insists one be a philosopher.

4.)One can't fathom another's malfunction while discounting that person's fears. 

5.)Hold nothing that drags you down. 

6.)Before going crazy, contemplate your crazy. 

7.) Any dope can see the beauty in beautiful things, a strong mind sees the beauty in all things.

8.) To know a thing's name and classification is to know nothing.  

9.) Don't discount the profound power of imaginary worlds. Read.

Vertigo Green [Haibun]

Posted on by
Reply 
Life overtakes all. Moss coats stone; vines smother shrubs; trees straddle walls. All growing in splotched patterns of green -- a million shapes of leaf in a million subtly different shades. My world is awash in green. My mind is soothed by deep greens, and fired by the bright light-greens of fresh growth. My periphery swirls and blurs with green.


a mossy stone 
becomes my focal point,
the fringe blurs