Sunday, January 31, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#16)

Although we are apart
if I hear the sound
of the pine tree growing
on top of a mountain
I'll come back
to you.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#15)

Because of you
Spring arrives
and I find myself
searching for wildflowers
along the mountain path
my hair turning white
from the snow.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#14)

Because of you
I become confused.
The ferns wave
their hands over the forest floor
erasing your foot prints.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#13)

In the mountains
the streams run all year round.
My love for you
is that deep and clear.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#12)

There is no heaven.
There is no house
where the clouds live,
where the winds come & go
like young girls.
There are no doors
 to stop the dreamers from falling
asleep in the flower beds
or the dead  returning
to the last place they remember
a clear thought.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#11)

I am headed towards islands
out to sea, far beyond view.
Do the boats
of the local fishermen
notice?

Friday, January 22, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#10)

I am standing at the crossroads
where people are telling stories
about the wonderful places
they are heading for. Who knows
what they will actually find
outside the gate
to the rest of the world.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#9)


Flowers fade and die

while I piss away my time
worrying about what I want
to do with my life.
And so? The rain falls.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#8)

I live in a hut
North of the capital.
OK, a house not a hut.
And not so far north
I don't see what is going on.
But I choose to live here
half way between man and mountain
squalid with glee at my own life.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#7)

Is the moon I see
the same one
that rises over the shrine
on Mount Wakakusa?

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#6)

The magpie,
black and white,
half, snow half night.
Building an ice bridge
across heaven
as they migrate
towards another dawn .

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#5)

Deep in the mountains
shrouded with leaves
the stag tells his story.
It is a tragedy, set in Autumn.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#3)

The peacock sweeps
its tail back and forth
the way a thief uses a pine branch
to erase his footsteps
as he disappears into the night.
Must I sleep alone again?

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#2)

Spring, and then summer
when the snow white robes
of winter are draped
over the mountains to dry.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Variations on 100 poems (#1)

The old barn leaks
like a sieve. Soaked
up to my elbows
bringing in the fall harvest.