Hospice

autumn twilight
they left her
at the hospice

Mainichi [Japan] Daily News
Nov. 4, 2009

Empty house

With every whip of wind
the tree's old leaves fall one by one

The naked branches that remain
flail futilely against the sky

Boisterous children''s laughter echoes
in the now empty house.


In my book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves
but originally published in World Haiku Review, Vol. 1, Issue 3, Nov. 2001.

New US citizen

For Gigliola Lubiano on her taking the oath of citizenship recently.
Congratulations and God bless!

Longing

the swirling wind
plays havoc with the leaves
this cold cold day
she asks the mailman twice
for his letters

In my book,
Rustle of bamboo leaves

Teacher's pet

teacher's pet
she tutors her student
the art of love

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

Gambler

I left four pennies
on the gambler's gravestone
remembering how
my friend's luck
ran out so soon

Sketchbook, Vol. 5, No. 4
July/August 2010

What is left

For those of you who are not in Facebook, I am uploading the following poem here to share with you. I wrote it last Saturday for Susan Rogers on the news of her father's accident and the uncertainty and sad plight of our mutual twin friends. I wrote this on the spur of the moment right after reading Susan's poem, What Returns, in Facebook. I think the poem just wrote itself and I am not revising it.


WHAT IS LEFT

(To Susan)

after the gale
and onslaught
of the fury of
the wild wind
devastating
everything in its path

there is always something
left behind in its
indiscriminating
path of destruction

a young sapling
bowed but not broken
buried but live seedling
awaiting the warmth
of a sunny day

for there is always
tomorrow even after
darkness of dying day

for so long
as man is man
with indomitable
spirit and faith in God
and friends lofting
their collective prayers
he will prevail