Great Egret [Haibun]

The egret stands on stiff, still legs. By contrast, its neck is coiled into a sinuous strike position. For a long time, only its eyes move, saccading in time with the darting prey below the water's mirrored surface. The egret plays shrub, hoping to lure tiny fish into its shadow, within striking distance of its flexible neck.

the egret stands,
moving only its eyes...
then spears water  

Crab Phalanx [Haiku]

fiddler crabs
form a phalanx;
claws ready

The Murder [Kyoka]

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

Persistence of Youth [Senryu]

baby macaque: 
no match for mom's
afternoon nap

DAILY PHOTO: Monkey See…

Taken at Nandi Hills in 2014

Butterfly Paralysis [Haibun]

Struggling to wiggle its wings, the butterfly warms in the morning sun. Is it like sleep paralysis - that hypnopompic impulse to flee that's stymied by stuck muscles? What's a wind gust or rapidly advancing shadow like for the butterfly? Normally, such occurrences would provoke an erratic fluttering away. But now the screaming instinct to wing away can't be answered. Does the butterfly know dread, or does it just quietly await the moment it's unfrozen?


cool morning -
a butterfly twitches,
but can't yet fly 

DAILY PHOTO: Black Spectacled Toad, Cambodia

Taken on Phnom Bakheng in October of 2012

DAILY PHOTO: Giraffing to the Max

Taken at the Giraffe Centre in Lang’ata, Kenya in May of 2018

DAILY PHOTO: Wolf in the Woods, Veresegyház

Taken in Veresegyház in the summer of 2011