Variations on 100 poems (#24)

Today, I come empty handed
to see tamukeyama.
Its head swathed in red leaves
its feet washed by the gods.

Variations on 100 poems (#23)

I can see the moon
like a mirror where my thoughts
are drawn in an unsteady hand.
Everyone sees their own past
as if they were the only one.

Variations on 100 poems (#22)

Its breath alone
empties the trees and scorches the grass.
So they call this mountain
"the wild one", the destroyer
of Autumn.

Variations on 100 poems (#21)

She said "I'll be there
in just a minute."
But the moon rises
before daybreak
before she arrives.

Variations on 100 poems (#20)

I be fearin'
dis stress is killin' me.
At this rate
you likely to find me
floating in Osaka bay.

Variations on 100 poems (#19)

You ask me to wait
as long as a reed
pulled from the marsh
around Osaka.
Really? Is that
what you want?

Variations on 100 poems (#18)

The waves collect on the shore
the way night gathers the darkness
into a single shadow, into a single
blindfold filled with dreams
we use to cover our eyes at night.

Variations on 100 poems (#17)

"Even when the gods held
sway in ancient days"
When? How? What
proof is there
that streams ran
red with petals
of trees only now in bloom?