Hulk Limerick

FEMA Photo by Win Henderson
There was an Anger Management counselor
 who, truth be told, was kind of an amateur.
   His schedule planner
   didn't know the name "Banner."
 So, for his new place, he hired a nerd.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
 Between the crosses, row on row,
      That mark our place; and in the sky
      The larks, still bravely singing, fly
  Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
  We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
       Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
          In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
   To you from failing hands we throw
       The torch; be yours to hold it high. 
       If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields. 

Taoist Limerick

Once upon a time, there was a wise, old Taoist priest
 who got the least from the most & the most from the least.
    If he offered a snack,
    you'd be bursting your slacks,
 but expect empty plates when he'd call for a feast.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost [w/ Audio]

Whose woods these are I think I know.
 His house is in the village though;
  He will not see me stopping here
 To watch his woods fill up with snow. 

My little horse must think it queer
 To stop without a farmhouse near
   Between the woods and frozen lake
 The darkest evening of the year. 

He gives his harness bells a shake
 To ask if there is some mistake.
  The only other sound's the sweep
 Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
 But I have promises to keep,
  And miles to go before I sleep,
 And miles to go before I sleep. 

Typhoon Trap [Rubāʿiyāt Stanza Variation]

Trapped on the island by typhoon.
 It's evening dark, though at high noon.
  The waves are wild and still rising.
  So, ferries won't be running soon. 

The few streets there are lie silent,
 but - seaside - the winds whip violent.
  We hide inside a bungalow,
  and hope it's fixed firmer than my tent.

One 's always where it's most remote
 when they cancel all ferryboats:
  where there're too many thoughts to think,
  and few distractive antidotes.

The Tiger by William Blake [w/ Audio]

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
 In the forests of the night,
  What immortal hand or eye
 Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
 Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
  On what wings dare he aspire?
 What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
 Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
  And, when thy heart began to beat,
 What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
 In what furnace was thy brain?
  What the anvil? What dread grasp
 Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
 And watered heaven with their tears,
  Did he smile his work to see?
 Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
 In the forests of the night,
  What immortal hand or eye
 Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 

Distant Divergence [Haiku]

under dark clouds;
 yon hills at once bombarded 
  with light- & rainbands.

The Color Burden [Haiku]

branches hang strong
against the dense clusters
of yellow trumpets.

Tree Taiji [Haiku]

“turn left to go right”:
branches sweep around in arcs,
is the tree moving?

Heat Beating [Haiku]

sitting on a rock,
 feet dangling in the stream, 
  thwarting summer heat.