A thousand raindrops
Dance madly against the roof,
Teasing and taunting.
Within there is no dancing,
Only one with memories.
11/01/2008
Is she in mourning
In sleeves of grey upon grey
Tinged with blue and white?
To the east, the sky's sad hems
Drag themselves across the hills.
11/02/2008
Is this greyness dawn
Or simply the slow advance
Of the autumn fog?
She wakes alone in the dark
To the hiss of autumn winds.
11/03/2008
The battle rages,
A struggle for life itself
Outside the window.
Each fierce gust is an onslaught,
Each downed branch a fallen soul.
11/04/2008
Don don tsu-ku don
Don tsu-ku tsu-ku don don
Don don kara don
Don tsu-ku tsu-ku don don
Don kara kara don don.
11/04/2008
https://taikosource.com/song-database/kuchi-shoga/
Another grey dawn
Slinks across the dark hills
To prod her awake.
Hope is a cruel falsehood
In the face of injustice.
11/05/2008
Inspiration strikes
At unpredictable times
And cannot be forced.
Behold, the dumpster yields up
The makings of a new drum.
11/06/2008
A fool met a fool:
No surprise that they did not
Get the other's point.
If they would just get a boat
And float away together!
11/06/2008
Amid dull duties
And mindless chores, her thoughts turn
To the coming weeks.
A much beloved sister
And missed friends are to visit!
11/07/2008
Gone, the eastern hills
Have vanished behind a veil
Of white mystery.
On this strange, muted morning
The neighbor's dog is silent.
11/08/2008
Flutes and strings
Vie with the sound of laughter
And good conversation.
My friends hold lovely parties,
But where did the morning go?
11/09/2008
The hummingbird speed
Of his pulse match the wingbeats
Of a yearning heart.
Blushes, smiles and quick glances:
Thus are new beginnings made.
11/09/2008
O fickle season,
Your changing skies and chill winds
Continue to tease.
Yet if I stow summer robes,
You'll taunt me again with warmth!
11/10/2008
Against their gravestones
Crimson blooms, a reminder
Of spent blood, lives lost.
We have learned almost nothing
From the war to end all others.
11/11/2008
Sea birds cry and whirl
Against a sky the color
Of long cold ashes.
One wonders why they fuss so
On such a desolate day?
11/12/2008
Even garden shrubs
Have vanished in the greyness
The world seems muffled.
Yet no ghost approaches me
In this all consuming mist.
11/13/2008
The calm bay mirrors
A sky achingly blue
As pleasure boats bob.
Can it truly be autumn
On such a sun blessed outing?
11/14/2008
"Hush," murmur the waves.
"Hush your incessant babble,
You foolish mortals.
Like the tracks of wading birds,
Your lives are impermanent."
11/15/2008
The evening fog spreads
Like a shroud across the bay
And into the hills.
Vanished are the city lights
And the house seems too quiet.
11/16/2008
An ocean of white
Stretches inexorably
As far as the mind.
Inspiration cannot be
Coaxed from a wavering brush.
11/17/2008
A whisper, a growl,
The gallop of a heartbeat
Thunders like the tides.
Hands fly with inspired speed:
At last the drums fall silent.
11/18/2008
Even the sky mourns
This latest turn of the wheel
In grey on grey sleeves.
Is there no consolation
For those of us who must remain?
11/19/2008
The wind teases and
A river of rustling gold
Floods the garden path.
Does the poor gingko shiver
As her robes are torn away?
11/20/2008
Resisting his wiles
As best she can, she huddles
Against the old house,
Despite the wind's advances
The maple keeps some last leaves.
11/21/2008
Fog rose at sunset
Swallowing boats and beacons
As night took the city.
We defied the mists with cheer:
Bright lanterns, good food and friends.
11/22/2008
Tides roared, thunder crashed,
Yet we were convention-bound
To sit sedately.
Matsuri rhythms should not
Be caged by a concert hall!
11/23/2008
Grey on grey, the sky
And cold waves make dull mirrors
Of one another.
One who was her mirror comes
No more to share light and warmth.
11/24/2008
A chilly green scent
Hints of pregnant clouds stirred by
Prankish offshore winds.
"Oh, rain already!" I rant,
Unsettled as the dark skies.
11/25/2008
At last, a release
From days of teasing rain scents
And murk ridden clouds.
Unleashed from constraint, the sky
Weeps like a new made widow.
11/26/2008
Rain on the shingles
Whispers soft secrets to be
Shared beneath a quilt.
Such a night would be cozy
If he was there to share it.
11/27/2008
A lone maple leaf
Whirls, golden, past my face to
A cold gutter death.
Once more the sky is gripped by
Unrelieved winter greyness.
11/28/2008
Motes of sunlight tease
As they pierce the bamboo blinds.
"Come. Come out," they taunt.
The scrape of rake on gravel
And leaf smoke tell the true tale.
11/29/2008
Another chill dawn
Brings mist off the channel
With the fishing boats.
The pale sun battles its grasp,
Allied with an ocean wind.
11/30/2008
Copyright 2008, 2019 Lisa A. Joseph