A Silence Felt [Tanka]

winter forest;
the dead silence
makes itself known
as a vague feeling
of untethered angst

Autumnal Reverie [Tanka]

wet yellow leaves
stuck to a rain-slick headstone,
and i'm in a land
not of tropical monsoons,
but which knows autumn

samsara is 
seeing a snake in
an acacia pod;
nirvana is realizing 
there never was a snake

i was brave
when facing this spider,
until I learned
that within its name
was the word, "Jumping"

the waterfall,
thunderous and lofty,
is a thin stream
from across the valley,
and yet i stop & stare

the shade tree
offers not just shade, but
a good example
for enlightenment seekers
and lazy folk, alike

sunlight shines low,
half-hatching the forest floor
with autumn shadows;
i walk amid columns,
listening for absent birds

thin clouds drift in,
showing their black bellies,
hiding blue skies
like a young boy doing
his first magic trick

cowbells clang,
the bleating flock trots up
a dusty road;
the rising dust plume
seen before the goats

a murder of crows
congregates on the concrete,
and I feel angst.
sure, I’m smarter than a crow…
but smarter than the murder?