Tropic Confusion [Haiku]

branches: bloom-laden
but devoid of leaves:
tropic confusion.

Winding Tree [Haiku]

winding like vines,
tree branches grow like a cage
over my head.

“The Debt” by Paul Laurence Dunbar [w/ Audio]

This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.

Pay it I will to the end --
Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release --
Gives me the clasp of peace.

Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best --
God! but the interest!

Sundown Underworld [Haiku]

sun hits horizon; 
summer ticks a day off,
car speeds into darkness.

Melting Clocks [Free Verse]

Waking to a world in which
Space & Time misbehave:

Shapes slump,
Even melting into pools,
Oozing to flatness, then
Over the edge and
Into nowhere.

Time moves in riverine fashion:
Rushing in the chokepoints
And lazing in the wide plains.
Though still flowing
Inexorably and unidirectionally.

The illusion tries
To reveal itself,
But who can understand...

Monitor [Lyric]

A Monitor Lizard strolls through the park --
A mid-day stroll, not at dusk or after dark.
The walkers and joggers give it wide berth
As it monitors them for all its worth.

“The Yak” by Hilaire Belloc [w/ Audio]

As a friend to the children commend me the Yak.
You will find it exactly the thing:
It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back,
Or lead it about with a string.

The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet
(A desolate region of snow)
Has for centuries made it a nursery pet,
And surely the Tartar should know!

Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got,
And if he is awfully rich
He will buy you the creature -- or else he will not.
(I cannot be positive which.)

“Parting at Morning” by Robert Browning [w/ Audio]

Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
And the sun looked over the mountain's rim:
And straight was a path of gold for him,
And the need of a world of men for me.

Pigeons [Lyric Poem]

There’s a writhing pile of pigeons —
Not two or a few or a smidgen —
You can raise their clout, and call them doves,
But I’m glad they're not on the wires above.

“Banish Air from Air” (963) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Banish Air from Air --
Divide Light if you dare --
They'll meet
While Cubes in a Drop
Or Pellets of Shape
Fit --
Films cannot annul
Odors return whole
Force Flame
And with a Blonde push
Over your impotence
Flits Steam.