DAILY PHOTO: Rocky River

DAILY PHOTO: A Few Views of the Malacca River

“Lethe” by Walter de la Mare [w/ Audio]

Only the Blessed of Lethe's dews
May stoop to drink. And yet,
Were their Elysium mine to lose,
Could I, sans all repining, choose
Life's sorrows to forget?

DAILY PHOTO: Winter River / Danube in December

DAILY PHOTO: Elephants Take a Swim

Movement [Haiku]

a barge creeps
out of the fog:
winter river.

DAILY PHOTO: Bamboo Bridges of Vang Vieng

“Nightfall on the Tisza River” by Géza Gárdonyi [w/ Audio]

Up comes the Moon on the river,
Trees and grass quietly quiver.
Near Szeged a wooded island,
Od fishing barque, tied to the land.

By the moonlight, on this barque, old,
Sat a fisherman I am told,
Played a tune as well as he might,
Played it well, well into the night.

On the Tisza, velvet darkness,
Starry sky, the stars numberless,
Spread a shroud studded with diamonds
Radiating starry light fronds.

May have been this very spot, hark!
Right under this rickety barque,
In the very depths of the deep
An ancient king's sleeping his sleep.

His coffin is gold and silver,
Of iron is made its cover.
Up the river is glistening,
Down the ancient king, listening.

Translation by Frank Veszely in: Hungarian Poetry: One Thousand Years. 2023. Friesen Press: Altona, MB, Canada.

Perilous [Haiku]

spider scurries
across sands beside
lapping waters.

The Big Drift [Haiku]

downriver drift;
ferries & fisherman cross
without collision.