FROG BASKING IN WATER
The old pond;
A frog jumps in
The sound of the water
Basho
Basho oh Basho
I too have a frog in my pond
At night he sings
many times his size
In evening he sits
still as a haiku master
on the wide stone ledge
where water flows before falling
splitting it
around and over his back
head above the water
big eyes smililng
Branding time again
babies torn from their mothers
cowcalfany of sound
ROYAL WEDDING
War and famine fade
it just takes one great dress
Kate and William wed
REFRIGERATOR
Milk, eggs, cheese, meat
on the door the children’s art
bodies and souls are fed
A RIFF ON INVICTUS
A great poem
and a wonderful title
they may use it
in a Mandela movie someday
My reverence however
does not prevent further musings
like what it would be like as haiku
Black as night god
bludgeonings of chance
bloody but unbowed
Or note in the human condition
the deepest silent plea
to those we love
That no matter
the many thousand ways
we have failed to pay the rent
they will continue
to invict and not evict us
VIEW TO THE EAST
Reading haiku
in the limb veined dawn
I do not long for spring
ORIENTAL MEDICINE
A haiku or two
raindrops are falling outside
outside of time
A haiku or two
a day risks loss in doing
a friend drops by
A haiku or two
Van Gogh paints in Japanese
starry, starry, night
A haiku or two
a geisha now beside me
pillow on her back
A haiku or two
politics and bad news fade
cycle is longer
A haiku or two
calming the winds of the mind
stilling the waters
A haiku or two
a walk taken with eyes open
is a workshop
Brief the touch
heals receiver, sender too
a Reiki haiku
The moon is full
the Mayan calendar turns
blossoming begins
Life is a haiku
simpler deeper than we know
rhymes between lines
FALL AND WINTER
Dry winds hurry
little brown leaf-birds along
November streets
****************
The year is ending
first snow falls on last leaves
icing on the cake
SPRING HOPES ETERNAL
Spring hopes eternal
The meadowlark’s song
Lifts tears from the dew
THE JOY OF THE LOON
The joy of the loon
Is in the sadness of his song
Candle lake at dawn