Still Life [Haiku]

country road view:
nothing bigger than a mouse
is in motion.

“To Helen” by Edgar Allan Poe [w/ Audio]

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicéan barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy-Land!

Spillage [Free Verse]

What spills from the brush?
What shapes are made
on the page?

What curves? What lines?
What crosses? What binds?

Who will chase after the sparks
of meaning in those wild marks?

The Dance [Free Verse]

What force dances one 
into this lovely state?

Light & ecstatic,
Blissful but calm.

Each breath a drug
that sends delicate
shimmers rippling
through the universe.

What force, indeed?

“Soft Snow” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

I walked abroad in a snowy day:
I ask'd the soft snow with me to play:
She play'd & she melted in all her prime,
And the winter call'd it a dreadful crime.

Moth Flight [Haiku]

moth falls off wall,
pulls up erratically, &
struggles for altitude.

Swimmingly [Free Verse]

Swim through the world
- effortlessly -
Don't crave speed;
Maximize the glide.

With each stroke,
Sail as far as the limbs
will send one.

Don't thrash. Don't splash.
Don't gasp.

Feel the catch. Feel the pull.
Don't let short, wild motions
exhaust one.

Breathe!

Be wary of drag.
Put less effort
into propulsion,
And more into streamlining --
Shoot through the void,
without struggle.

Never lose sight of the value
of a good glide.

“Sometimes with One I Love” by Walt Whitman

Sometimes with one I love I fill myself with
rage for fear I effuse unreturn'd love,
But now I think there is no unreturn'd love,
the pay is certain one way or another
(I loved a certain person ardently and my
love was not return'd,
Yet out of that I have written these songs).

The Big Drift [Haiku]

downriver drift;
ferries & fisherman cross
without collision.

“Water Dragon Chant” by Ge Changgeng [w/ Audio]

A screen of cloud veils the mountain,
And cold monkeys squawk from green pines.
Fungi abound, but seeds dormant,
Searching for sprouts -- alas, in vain.
Somewhere near there's a fairy cave
Where flutes and lutes are often played.
Its Way is overgrown with moss,
And the old stone gate yields no clue.
Where have all the fairy folk gone?

Looking back, there's an endless plain
Where flowers fall like streaming tears.
It's easy to grow old; Where is
the messenger to bring some news?
To tell who the Golden Phoenix charms?
Waking from a deep, restless dream
What remains are blooms on the stream.