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a worm on a hook
or a fish in the barrel
there is no escape
and that is when I realized
that the only way forward
was to throw open our hearts
and surrender completely
making love not war
Choka
As a child I laughed
Arms out, bounding in the surf
Seals calling my name
My world was bright, fresh and free
I knew not shame nor envy
Tanka
beautiful woman
you gave me your heart once
but then took it back
Senryu
i am an inchoate, tubular, time traveller, wearing blue jeans
10 word
nothing greater than
the agony of knowledge
nor the bliss thereof
Senryu
i  am exhausted
my eyes are longing to shut
but my mind churns on
Senryu
With thought's silver spark
Imagination's flame lights
Gauzy moths fly in
i am but a flame
of flesh and i am burning
ideas fly in
Senryu
on my weary way
trudging through rough sodden fields
carrying a verse
Senryu
I did not sleep much
thinking of the words you bled
lost and found treasures
Senryu
O, the month of May, the merry month of May,
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green!
O, and then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen.

Now the nightingale, the pretty nightingale,
The sweetest singer in all the forest quire,
Entreats thee, sweet Peggy, to hear thy true love's tale:
Lo, yonder she sitteth, her breast against a brier.

But O, I spy the cuckoo, the cuckoo, the cuckoo;
See where she sitteth; come away, my joy:
Come away, I prithee, I do not like the cuckoo
Should sing where my Peggy and I kiss and toy.

O, the month of May, the merry month of May,
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green;
And then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen.
mosquito larvae
crowd the surface of the pond
under the dead oak
Haiku
red light, green light, flash
bounce go rockabye baby
on the cross town bus
Senryu
a mother and child
their sublime symmetry
there i see greatness
Senryu
a gentle hillside
all daffodils and bluebells
neath an ice blue sky
cold winds blow in from the sea
dark waves becoming breakers
white foam filling the thin strand
seagulls sailing and wheeling
all around i hear them cry
and i stand on this hillside
among the grass and flowers
with my cheeks red and stinging
and think about you and i
without an answer
Choka
i  am but a web
immersed in a liquid
full of messengers
Senryu
Forgive my being
A little melancholy
It rains on some days
I would lay with you
on buttercups and clover
neath the green, green trees
all speckled in their shadows
two trout in loves starry stream
Tanka
fences white with frost
blue sky, yellow sun, cold day
snow geese are leaving
.
Haiku
blooming after dark
the jasmine's sweet warm scent
fills me with yearning
Senryu
i still remember
the first time that we touched
and the sparks that flew
Senryu
Jen
Jen
She is visiting
Blue eyed as a Siamese
she curls up and purrs
like a precious gem
your many facets dazzle
mesmerizing me
Senryu
After the rainstorm
The skies' transparent jewels
Strung on spiderwebs
Sparkle and glint like diamonds
Upon an emerald field
Tanka
Joy
Joy
released, bathed in light
floating up and all around
free and resplendent
Haiku
I rode in the rain
Through puddles on empty streets
Sunshine in my heart
can you honestly
tell me that you are better
than anyone else
Senryu
just the touch of you
the look, smell and taste of you
i n t o x i c a t i o n !
Senryu
Splendorous visage
Silver creased and amber lined
Your gaze ensnares us
With visions false and true
You give life and then we die
I will never be
A rooster on a dung heap
It is not my dream
Nor is putting others down
To prop up a frail ego
Tanka
money is not love
nor is it blood, sweat and tears
it is just cold cash
Senryu
Quantum gravity
Big and small or not at all
Stringing us along
Coral red, hot pink
Your lips so wet and lucent
I cannot ignore
Haiku
"You are my first love!"
I stopped, smiled and asked, "Your first?"
She answered, "Indeed."
Rolled the dice across the board
I looked and she had boxcars!
bright yellow crescent
on dark velvet sewn with stars
pushing through the night
above the shadowed mountains
and deep dark alpine valleys
weary on her way
Choka
These candles are cold
With frozen stalactite beards
But love blazed last night
You were here last night
As I held you to my heart
Your bright eyes smiled back
As blue as a summer's sky
As hot as the raging Sun
Silver horizon
Clouds stretched across it's bright arc
Black cutouts of ships
Within the fluorescent glow
Like thoughts in my mind's furnace
A yellow jacket
Pulsed while scaling candied ham
Then braced, sawed a piece
Away it swayed amongst oaks
Cicadas shrilled loud and hot
Tanka  ...needed a little reminder of warmer days and bluer skies
blood red rosehips
sway on thorny bushes
petals in the wind
Haiku
inspired by Timothy
High up in a tree
An orange and battered leaf
Twists, turns and flutters
The passing raven calls,"prruk!"
Beneath the dark blue mountain
sun in the alley
crocuses along the ditch
blue and white streaked sky
Haiku
harebells and tulips
verge the blackberry brambles
two lop ears within
Haiku
crickets after dark
their voices fill the night
lonely stars look down
Haiku
laugh and sing my love
and the universe will too
may i have this dance
Senryu
a gentle murmur
ripples reflecting ice blue
the taste of ginger
in the shadows by the brook
under the swaying willows
bird song echoing above
a chainsaw in the distance
my eyelids flutter and close
lazy afternoon
Choka
You feel hard done to
So unappreciated
Your days full of angst
And your mind crawling with fleas
Let go, breath deep, learn to love
Tanka
i thought i knew love
when i was but a young man
so much wiser now
Senryu
clambering beetle
black and iridescent
bright sunlight, dark leaves
Haiku
Buffeted by winds
Blind, within my chrysalis
Pulsing as I crawl
Through dense clouds full of rain
Always looking for a flame
This is a Tanka (or Waka) it consists of five units usually with the following pattern of
5-7-5-7-7
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