Daisy Waves [Haiku]

Photographs of Ox-Eye Daisies taken in Baku, Azerbaijian.
ox-eye daisies
ripple in the wind, or
when tousled by hand.

Blossom Blush [Haiku]

white blossom clusters —
Cherry trees of Early Spring:
some blooms blush, some not.

Long Live Bonsai [Senryū]

Photograph of a bonsai tree taken on the grounds of a Hanoi Temple.
the bonsai tree
isn't a BANZAI! tree,
yet looks 10,000.

NOTE: “Bonsai” [盆栽] means “potted plant.” “Banzai” [万歳] means “10,000 years,” (in the manner of “long live the king.”)

A Sun Within [Haiku]

Photograph of purple and yellow water lilies taken in Hanoi, Vietnam.
purple lilies
open to reveal
a Sun within.

Mountain Mist [Haiku]

hot summer day,
sitting downwind of cascade:
misted by spatter.

PROMPT: Tattoo

Daily writing prompt
What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?
I would not like a tattoo. 
I would not like one - old or new.
I wouldn't like one in a Zoo.
I wouldn't like one in a canoe.
I would not like one,
Ham though I am,
I would not like any body-spam.

Chasing Grandeur [Free Verse]

Photograph of mountain looming over the city, taken at Sapa, Vietnam.
I saw the mountaintop, 
but by the time I climbed
the mountain,
I was in the clouds and
could not see back to
where I'd been.

God’s Eye [Senryū]

Photograph of God's Eye Mountain in the Cao Bang Province of Vietnam.
hiked halfway around
the God's Eye Mountain before
its name made sense.

Stony Ground [Haiku]

Photograph of a tree on the granite hill named Uttari Betta in Karnataka, India.
roots grow down
through stony ground -- still,
Spring brings deep green.

Troubled Bridge [Free Verse]

Photograph of a railway bridge over the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Iron skeleton
spans the water.

Weeds sprout from ties,
rust eats its way under
flaking paint & over
rivet heads.

I remember the whistle's blow,
a long, long time ago.