Haunted Forest [Tanka]

trees stand straight
in the woods they call "haunted;"
all i see are trees,
but maybe they're ghost trees
and I see nothing at all

Jaguar [Tanka]

even at rest,
the jaguar looks fast -
as long as
its eyes are focused
& its feet pad the ground

the caged cat
stalks a prey it cannot see,
and cannot reach;
does the pseudo-prey know?
does its heartbeat quicken?

plump caterpillar,
grounded on the sidewalk,
hopes that wings
will come around - before
a careless foot does

a fig tree
grew over a building;
that building 
collapsed long ago, but
now the tree is the building

the perfect tree
sits on a flat boulder -
roots clawing rock;
stunted and deformed,
but very much alive

the stone lotus
carved in the temple wall
will outlast
lovers and real lotuses -
such a clumsy copy

a boulder
balances on two points;
supports erode
one grain at a time -
until one grain too many

roots sprawl,
sinuously creeping.
what's it like
to hold so firm
and reach so far?

Temple of Dawn
stands by a river -
brown and wide,
a river both older
and younger than it