Missing stone ring

This sijo poem is a work in progress, my first revision, what do you think?


my granddaughter lately asks me
of the missing stone in my ring

as she lovingly caresses
my gnarled and wrinkled fingers

hugging her tightly I whispered
I lost it in your grandma's grave

Daily vow

In response to Joan, a reader from New Zealand, on our desire to be kind and friendly to everyone, eliciting their smile, here is a repost of my Daily vow post originally published on New Year's day this year.



Here are my comments to readers muse and Ms. Givens:

Whenever I go out of the house - I even tell my daughter - I go out of my way to elicit a smile from whomsoever I encounter, cashiers, friends and strangers. Life is too short to harbor bad feelings and enmity with anybody. At the end of the day, I sleep peacefully knowing that I have done my part in spreading peace and love. I also am at peace with my Creator.

Her absence

the roses bloom
side by side with weeds
her long long absence

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, Issue 2
March/April 2009

Homeless children

sidewalk frenzy
the homeless boys fight
for a tossed quarter

World Haiku Review
Vol. 8, Issue 1, Jan. 2010

Prayer garden

Yesterday, while waiting for the start of our haiku meeting, Southern California Haiku Study Group (SCHSG) in Pasadena's Pacific Asia Museum, I wandered near a theological school. Nearby, I saw a prayer garden, so labeled, that was closed to the public. I went closer and peered through the gated place. It had a man-made waterfall and lots of small trees and shrubs. Serenity and peace exude from the place. After looking a bit I sat down on a concrete bench nearby and wrote this poem.

prayer garden
the answered ones
are blooming

Actually, this is not the one I read at our usual sharing at the beginning of each meeting, but an earlier version.

prayer garden
how many unanswered ones
are left there

Lovers' cliff

lovers' cliff
a torn scarf totters
near the water's edge

Notes from the Gean
Vol. 2, Issue 1, June 2010

Aloneness

strains of ukulele
fill the sultry night
she fingers the dried lei
and hugs the memories
he left behind

Modern English Tanka.
Vol. 2, No. 3, Spring 2008

War veteran

parade watching
he fingers the Purple Heart
over his feeble heart

Wildflower watching

Watching
the wildflowers
with their wayward daughter,
still hard to fathom why her mom
left them.