Friday, August 19, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#100)

This old house
is paved with a hundred stones
and weeds grow in the gutters and cracks.
But no matter how old or unkempt
my dreams are older and more numerous.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#99)

Some men I pity,
Some men I hate.
But for all its sadness
this world has yet
to turn against me.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#98)

The oak trees next to the brook
rattle their brittle leaves in the wind.
No signs of summer left.
It must be the gods
arriving for their evening bath!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Monday, August 15, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#96)

It's not the flurry
of white petals
the wind whirls around
the courtyard
that are dying,
it's me.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#95)

From an outcropping off Artist's Bluff
I can see the entire world. Or at least
my part of it. The trees
blanketing the mountainside.
The ants and humans
working their way
from one wilderness to another.
I shade them from the sun
momentarily, with my outstretched hand.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#94)

The wind off Mount Yoshino
breathes cold
at night. The village
is filled with the sound
of men and women
turning in their sleep.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#93)

If only the world
could stay this way forever:
the fishing boat
fighting the waves
and the ropes holding it
to the shore.


Thursday, August 11, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#92)

Like a rock in the ocean
hidden even at low tide,
my heart is soaked in tears.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#91)

These cold Autumn nights
I pull the quilt tighter
because I must sleep alone.
Outside, I hear a single cricket
telling his story in the dark.
You and me, friend!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#90)

Look! The fishermen
dragging in their nets
waist deep in the surf,
their brightly colored bandanas
never fade, no matter
how many times the tide
washes over them!

Monday, August 8, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#89)

If you tug
at a string of pearls
they will break, like my life.
Perfect teardrops, scattered
lost, abandoned, or hidden
from view.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#88)

Just one night,
as short as a reed
pulled from the marsh
around Osaka,
then left holding
only memories of you
for the rest of my life?

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#87)

Autumn: the mist
climbs the mountain
on its hands and knees,
the pine boughs catching
in its hair, this morning's rain
clinging to its brow.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#86)

How can I blame the moonlight
for my tears? The night's
soft caress for my sighs?
They remind me of you.

Variations on 10 Poems (#85)

I laid awake all night
waiting for the dawn
which I thought
would never come.
And now that it's almost here
the world outside my door
seems like it is a thousand miles away.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#84)

If I live long enough
I may look back
and think fondly
of this day, this particular
minute. Just as  now
I shudder at the thought
of yesterday.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#83)

There is no escape from this world.
I wanted to hide in the mountains
but every night I heard the deer
call my name.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Variations on 100 Poems (#82, Variant B)

Grief is a tide
you cannot stop
any more than
you can stop the wind
from stealing your thoughts.

Variations on 100 Poems (#82)

Although you hurt me,
I will recover.
But I cannot stop
my tears from escaping.