Defiant birdsong
Batters at a sombre sky's
Cloudy defenses.
"Glower all you like," he cries.
"My branch is covered in buds!"
03/10/2009
The lambent glow of flame,
Their spark smiles in eyes brightened
By nightfall's promise.
Who would not wish to live in
A world lit only by fire?
04/01/2009
A polished mirror
Twins the dawn sky above it,
Glum with seaborne clouds.
A lone boat glides up-channel
To pass beneath a green bridge.
04/02/2009
Writing three tanka
Today does not fulfill
The terms of the challenge.
Though scolding you does fulfill
MY requirement for the day.
4/04/2009
Alone with her thoughts
And the last of the sake,
She lays out her bed.
A breath to quell each lantern,
A sigh for the chilly quilts.
04/05/2009
Visions of stars and
Thoughts of a sake-cup moon
Break in on her day.
If only life were all silk
And bright lanterns in the dark!
04/06/2009
Muddy marks sully
Pristine floorboards, carelessness
Shaped like a man's foot.
Who would trespass so crudely
Beneath these once tranquil eaves?
04/07/2009
Beneath moody clouds
Low tide silvers rippled sands
And clings to cold feet.
Sea birds bicker and careen
Over the gleaming shallows.
04/08/2009
Sea grasses whisper
Eternal secrets too soft
For a straining ear.
Someone once walked beside her
Murmuring other secrets.
04/09/2009
Shadows shroud the land
As storm clouds mount the summits
Of the eastern hills.
What do art and work matter
When faced with eternity?
04/10/2009
They want to be fed
Instantaneous answers.
Let them eat silence.
Though silence is a blessing
They cannot appreciate.
04/11/2009
Old stones huddle
As if pondering moves
On a shogi board.
Among dearest friends, a game
Can never last long enough.
04/11/2009
They look so young as
They peer at the Muni map
On the shelter wall.
"Where are you going?" I ask.
"Japantown." "Take the 38."
04/12/2009
There is nothing like
The company of my books,
Peaceful and knowing.
If I sip or I drink deep,
They are a comfort to me.
04/13/2009
The trees hiss as if
In pain, waving fretful arms
In warding gestures.
Shutters rattle warning of
The approach of a spring storm.
04/14/2009
Happy is the bee
To have so many flowers
Offer their nectar.
Scent spent, color faded, the
Flower dies, dreaming of bees.
4/15/2009
A sprig of cherry
Reminds her of that meeting,
All smiles and poems.
Po Chu I sits on his shelf,
Flirting with Murasaki.
04/16/2009
Night falls on the bay
Small boats sway at moorings
Like tired dancers.
Further east, flecks of gold light
Shine from a thousand windows.
04/17/2009
Sunset reflected
From windows across the hills
Reach her own window.
Soon the pearl sky will deepen
Through the thousand hues of dusk.
04/18/2009
Night lies heavily
On the district. A dog barks,
The trees are silent.
No sleep comes to soothe her;
No breeze wafts in from the bay.
04/19/2009 .
No stars shine tonight
And the moon hides her pale face
From casual view.
Again the night seems too still
As if waiting for something.
04/20/2009
A growl of thunder
Belies the clear twilight sky
And low sailing moon.
Lost in the rhythm, we drum,
United by sweat and joy.
04/21/2009
Throwing his head back
A sparrow serenades the
Heedless passersby.
Though perched on rusting barbed wire
His song is all the sweeter.
04/22/2009
He lands at my feet,
Orange wings flicker,
Then he flutters off.
Flying, feeding, breeding, are
Far more urgent than my walk.
04/23/2009
Dark, gravid clouds birth
A litter of fat raindrops
Above the paddies.
Yet sun shines north and south of
My road, promising rainbows.
04/24/2009
Like demons they come,
Each ignoring the others
As they blow their pipes.
Drums beat, feet march
To the whirl of cacophonous colors.
04/25/2009
Late afternoon sun
Sparks green from the grassy hills
Bright as a knife blade.
Am I the only pilgrim
Who pauses to drink it in?
04/26/2009
The scent of woodsmoke
Rises to a starry sky,
Rich with memories.
Firelit smiles and friendship are
Better than feasts and soft beds.
04/27/2009
Exhaustion is the
Enemy of poetry
On such days as this.
Vainly grasping for ideas,
Still the words do not come.
04/29/2009
Spears of sunlight thrust
Through a parapet of cloud.
Sparks shower the bay.
Shorebirds forage busily,
Heedless of the silent fray.
04/29/2009
He: "The teeth now blackened
soft faces powdered whitely
to go moon viewing
Cherry blossoms all but gone
yet lingering for the moon."
She: "She needs no powder
To dazzle a watcher's eye,
Nor garish garments.
The moon reduces her to
A wan child playing dress-up."
He: "Bright moon gazing, full,
resplendent in its glory,
can but turn away-
squinting at the lovely one
who sits on that porch, watching."
She: "Once more, misty clouds
Conceal moon and stars alike
From her searching gaze.
With no earthly suitor
There's no point in sitting up".
06/10/2009, with Date Saburou Yukiie*
He: Morning bell tolling
Cobblestone clack of geta
Dew covered penance.....
Will the white rice of day-break
Match the glow seen from her face?
She: The temple bell lies,
Surely time moves more slowly
Than fleeting dew!
Endless seem the days, waiting
For a note, a glance, a word.
06/11/2009 with Date Saburou Yukiie*
Earthbound, she listens
To a mockingbird as he
Tries out each new song.
If she could fly too, perhaps
She might sing as joyously.
06/12/2009
Incense burns, heedless
Of the falling rain, or are
Those a thousand tears?
Memories like candle flame
Warm a chill autumn evening.
10/12/2009
Did you write today?"
Rising moon asks setting sun
O'er the glinting bay.
"Nearly forgot!" she blushes,
Hurrying homeward to write.
11/01/2009
Morning mist rises
From the inlet, ghost-like trees
Stand watch on its banks.
Silently they let me pass
As if I too am a ghost.
11/02/2009
Sun warmed afternoons
Tease the spirit with such
Mendacious weather.
The truth is in angled light
And trees garbed in tattered robes.
11/03/2009
Grey marbled morning
Retreats before the noon sun
Into the high hills.
Ever-fickle autumn plays
Her tricks again and again.
11/04/2009
Ramparts of dark clouds
Advance upon the east hills
With desperate speed.
Is that pounding rain I hear
Or is it all in my head?
11/05/2009
Clouds race and tumble,
Yet for all that, it seems
Such a timid rain.
Mist would be more aggressive
Than this pathetic dripping!
11/06/2009
Three kites, a basket,
A charming tanuki and
Onigiri molds.
A thirty dollar spree nets
Much at the 100 yen store.
11/07/2009
The morning threatens
Escape from my control as
I gaze to the east.
Masts rise from the marina
And trees blaze upon the hills.
11/08/2009
Heat rises and soothes
As I gaze down into the
Warmth cupped in my hands.
Though life is fraught with problems
A bowl of tea solves a few.
11/09/2009
Merciless shears clack,
Lopping helpless branches off
In verdant carnage.
Had I such gardeners, it
Would be they who would suffer.
11/10/2009
Milky bay mimics
A sky leached of all color,
Waves a dull shimmer.
The only sounds are the cries
Of sea birds and lapping waves.
11/11/2009
A window rattles
In its frame, complaining of
A door shut downstairs.
Old houses tattle on each
Tenant as we come and go.
11/12/2009
The night is darker
And chill is the wind blowing
Off the endless sea.
Still they live beneath bridges
Waiting with their empty bowls.
11/13/2009
A shadow flutters
Past the window, another,
Maple leaves falling.
What must it be like to die
Dancing upon a cool breeze?
11/14/2009
To know who she is
I would walk her narrow streets
And meet her people.
Like Genji I wish to see
Who lives inside that screened room.
11/15/2009
Once more, dawn intrudes,
Poking bright fingers at each
Night shuttered crack.
A dog barks at some
Early passerby, I sigh and rise.
11/16/2009
The first impression
Is all dash and elegance
That delights the eye.
But can he write a poem
That reveals his true merit? ;-D
11/17/2009
Ah, Gracious Beauty
Had not your attention caught
On dye or bearing
Would you wonder if poem
Could issue forth from one?
- Takeda Sanjuichiro Akimasa*
11/17/2009
A waving banner
Is no man, yet it catches
The eye by design.
A man either has true worth
Or merely flaps in the breeze.
11/17/2009
Loyalty, friendship,
And a strong moral code
Are hardly vices.
One may do far worse than to
Be born into the Dog's Year.
11/18/2009
Night comes too quickly,
Driving folk homeward as if
In fear of the dark.
Windows bloom on the hillside
Like flowers of golden light.
11/19/2009
Winds buffet the inky clouds
Even as the sun stabs through
Curtains of raindrops.
Venture out at your peril:
On such days, foxes marry.
11/20/2019
A teacup moon floats
Through a reef of clouds of an
Impossible pink.
Twilight remembers herself
And dons a more subtle robe.
11/21/2009
With nightfall it comes,
The loneliness of a still
And silent old house.
Ears strain for unheard footsteps,
Or for a remembered laugh.
11/22/2009
Sometimes it's easy.
An image begets ideas
And it writes itself.
Sometimes, though, I sit and sigh,
Forced to admit I've nothing.
11/23/2009
The little gingko
In the corner garden is
A waif in tatters.
Once lushly garbed, she mirrors
The impermanence of life.
11/24/2009
Blazing pumpkin rinds
Join eggshells and persimmon
Peels in a bucket.
I read the recipe twice
Why is so much filling left?
11/25/2009
The scent of spices
Is not half so pleasing as
Your smiling faces.
As we sit down together,
Nothing can separate us.
11/26/2009
Mantled in dark clouds
The hills hunch shoulders against
The rain's cold fingers.
I watch from my window and
Wonder when it will rain here.
11/27/2009
Raging like wild beasts,
They throw themselves hungrily
Against the pale sand.
Such roaring surf can hardly
Have earned the name "Pacific."
11/28/2009
Softer than a cloud
It billows from my fingers
Like a waterfall.
Cutting silk feels like murder
And destiny all at once.
11/29/2009
One cannot ignore
The death rattle underfoot
At each passing step.
The nights grow colder, longer,
And the passes fill with snow.
11/30/2009
The shutters protest
An onslaught of winter winds
Blasting off the bay.
Even the moon has set and
Neighbors' lights seem far away.
12/21/2009
Copyright 2009, 2019 Lisa A. Joseph, except *Mike Lehman.