Haiku & Photography

1,101.

Release me with your

Supple touch; save me from this

Cruel opaque design.

~

1,102.

Be on the lookout

For things you can do better.

Maximize your life.

~

1,103.

Satisfaction is

Valued; gathered next gens look

To maximize arts.

~

1,104.

Sun shines high over

Creative Conversations,

Emerging from clouds.

~

1,105.

Mercurial like

Morning – or Apollo in

The frieze of headlights.

Dande 1

1,106.

The view from here and

The Hollywood Sign tether

Me in space and time.

~

1,107.

Out of the darkness

And into the night; hurry

Begins under stars.

~

1,108.

Cobwebs and smoke, tricked

Out lantern grins, the children

Dress in goblin-face.

~

1,109.

Volatile wants at

Every turn make barricades

Of time; there’s no choice.

~

1,110.

Left-over gourmet –

Heaven in Goat Rillette with

Pickled Vegetables.

~

1,111.

Fortuitous ones

All in a row; the sun shines

Over this poem.

~

1,112.

Ghostly lit, the path

Succumbs; dark conceals the light.

There is more than this.

~

1,113.

Pinpoint stars before

The break of day; hope from a

Million miles away.

Dande 3

1,114.

Clear skies and sunrise;

These jack-offs have me trapped in –

Dichotomous spin.

~

1,115.

Never the same, this

Skin I’m in – mercurial,

Like the blowing wind.

~

1,116.

Sun sets; the day has

Curved like my back, upwards in

Evening asanas.

~

1,117.

Contrails glow like false

Rays, catching the morning light,

Crowning a new day.

~

1,118.

Toilet broke at work –

It was badly jury rigged.

Oh, public sector.

~

1,119.

Sea change ‘cross the sky,

See change go sailing by, like

Clouds, ephemeral.

~

1,120.

Sunset over the

Pacific – amazing – a

Sweet smile on your face.

~

1,121.

Tickle attack! The

Peals of laughter sing like rain

Through the rustling leaves.

~

1,122.

Yoga for the flesh,

A cleared out In Box for the

Thoughts.  Saturday sighs.

Dande 2

1,123.

Raindrops skip along

The street, plinking laughter with

The puddles they meet.

~

1,124.

Eyes peek with the sun;

The path’s awash with morning;

Daylight saving grace.

~

1,125.

Remote, big-skied, where

Ravens balance on arid

Wing – how desert sings.

~

These haiku first appeared on twitter in October of 2011.  I hope you enjoy.  My first collection, Status Haiku, can be purchased for $0.99 from Amazon.

The photos are from the spring.  Bright, puffy wishes captured in dandelion form. 

The Great Wave of Homework

This is The Great Wave of Homework.
The Great Wave of Homework

A play on Hokusai’s “The Wave,” this piece of watercolor whimsy shows the crashing load of homework being surfed by our students. Good thing they are all up to the task.

Homework Detail 2

Homework Detail 1

Homework Detail 3

Ballad Stanzas

IMG_2947

21.

Another voice, another hand

Protesting ‘gainst their might;

Though they are rich and powerful,

It’s we who’re in the right.

 ~

22.

Your morning kiss is a delight –

Oh! To be pillowed there,

Resting in your sweet, subtle breath,

Upon that darkened pair.

 ~

23.

Sunrise, and the shadows grow long,

Covering coming day;

Through the gloom I scream aloud,

Get out of my fucking way.

 ~

24.

A quiet fills the schoolhouse halls

As pencils go to test;

There are no shouts nor bouncing balls,

Just pupils doing best.

 ~

25.

Storming upon this concrete sea,

Raging cracks of thunder –

Cut me off and, as lightning’s flash,

You’ll see my middle finger.

~

These fist appeared on Twitter.   Stop can be seen here in greater detail.  The sign installations were original work by Kai Aspire.

(Status Haiku, a collection of my first 1,000 haiku is also available at Amazon.)

New York

This post appears on The Blissful Adventurer.  My friend is away in Italy and asked a number of his favorite bloggers to guest post while he enjoyed the lands, food, and wine abroad.  Enjoy and give his site a visit, there are many wonderful guest posts.  

The Lincoln Tunnel
Breeds romance; I’ll meet my love
In New York City.

IMG_3458

From the bus, I see
The city stir; I’ll soon be
In that living air.

Transit
Stations in tile; the
Underground bustles around
Scenes in mosaic.

Buildings
Concrete, plastic, steel,
Glass, flesh, blood, the rats, morass,
And hope embodied.

Empire State
Night falls as dawn rose,
Empire State’s top veiled in a
Fine obscuring mist.

Torch
The city gleams in
Light and glass, reflected quick
Under passing clouds.


Bryant Park teams with
Visitors; the trees gaily
Laugh in light and breeze.

Wicked!
Asphalt, horns, grinding
Gears – behind the glass; love friends,
And a warm embrace.

Passage New York
Oxidized copper
In filigree recurs and
Speaks; This is New York.

New York - River
Our lives are made of
Lines – wires, tracks, and roads – real as
Ink upon the page.

~

Thank you, Blissful Adventurer and readers for this guest post.  My poetry, photography, and art can be regularly seen at LifeasGood.com.  These haiku first appeared on twitter, where I chirp micropoems daily.  They are collected in my first volume, Status Haiku, which is available for download on Amazon.  

Take a Ride with Me

Take a Ride with Me

Water color whimsy or perhaps, a space cowboy.

In Dreams We Ascend

This is In Dreams We Ascend.

In Dreams We Ascend

This watercolor piece is part of a series of whimsical paintings I’ve been working on.  Here, a child ascends the ladder of moonlight from the garden of dreams.  A bee looks on, encouraging the childs growth into the hevens.

In Dreams Detail 1

Shining down, the moon, planets, and stars smile as the child comes closer to their realm.

In Dreams Detail 2
In Dreams Detail 3

Monster Ballad – Grendel

This is Grendel.

Monster Ballad - Grendel

Grendel appears in the great and early English poem, Beowulf.  Scholars debate Grendel’s appearance, but because of his unnatural life and the company he (seldom) kept – his mother and the dragon – I have often imagined this hell-spawn as scaly monster covered in horns.

Grendel Detail 2

In some translations, after Grendel’s arm has been severed by Beowulf, it is described as hoary, covered with protrusions, and as hard as steel.  I like to picture Grendel this way – he should be a monster, like the dragon and the sea-monsters that Beowulf boasts of defeating.

Grendel Ship Detail

Regardless of Grendel’s appearance, many will note that I took a true liberty with the monster.  I had him topple Hrothgar’s Throne, which in the actual poem is a subject of note.  Grendel, whether cursed by some dread magic or his own misaligned thought, is unable to approach the throne.  Here however, I thought showing the monstrosity of his form looming over the great thane’s chair was more appropriate than over a heap of the dead (these are intended for child readers after all).

Grendel Poem

I also want to give a mention to the Quimper Hittys, whose hitty-keeper suggested Grendel for the ballad.  Their site, filled with the misadventures of wooden dolls, is a delight.

Grendel Throne Detail

Grendel is the twentieth monster of the Monster Ballad series.
It is Acrylic on paper, (18 x 24).

Grendel Detail

Goblin PonyMedusaLeviathanBansheeCyclopsShadowYetiBaba YagaChupacabraSiren MummyOgreSewer CrocodileTrollsThunderbirdRakshasaAliensKikituk, and Dragon can be found here.

Alaska

This is written as a guest post for my friend, The Blissful Adventurer.  He’s off to Italy for a month and has an number of guests posting at his site.  Click through for more.  

Above the clouds and
Mountain tops, we dwell a time:
Thirty-thousand feet.

Alaska Sunset

Snow and we are blown
‘Cross the windswept road – ice floes
Navigate at sea.

Floes

He looks back, concerned
Across the snow, and I’m warmed
By the loving glow.

Glacier

Bundled in North Face,
I reflect, in the snow, on
Basho – I’m not he.

Glacier

The snow machines howl
And we’re made wolves in the white:
Boys at engine dance.

Snow Machines

North on iron tracks -
In the snow, others have left
Cold paths to-and-fro.

Alaska Car

Eagle surveys the
Track. We are an iron horse
Under his domain.

Train Alaska

Like the loon, hidden
In mist and lake, McKinley
Remains elusive.

Tree Alaska

Imposing, Northern
Jewel. Denali – rock and ice,
Millennial song.

Road Alaska

The interior:
Braided rivers, they move like
me, mercurial.

~

Thank you, Blissful Adventurer and readers for this guest post. My poetry, photography, and art can be regularly seen at LifeasGood.com. These haiku first appeared on twitter, where I chirp micropoems daily.  My first volume, Status Haiku, is available for download on Amazon.

Haiku & Photography

Passage New York

1,091.

Smokestacks and mountains

Backlit by dawn; power-lines

Hum with industry.

 ~

1,092.

I’ve gone translucent,

Else courtesy is dead, killed

By entitlement.

 ~

1,093.

My car is bigger!

I’ve no need to indicate;

I’ll just take your lane.

 ~

1,094.

Indian spices,

A room lighted by my love,

Happy Diwali.

 ~

1,095.

Asanas in the

Setting – light – blooms in half moon

Pose; Diwali night.

 ~

1,096.

Contrails at dawn’s hour

Frozen, nostalgic for night’s,

Dazzling, shooting stars.

 ~

1,097.

Dark settles, her chill

Waxing with Autumn’s long nights;

I bask in your warmth.

 ~

1,098.

Airplanes overhead,

Distant mountains carve purple

Shadows in the dawn.

 ~

1,099.

Lesson attempt: fail.

Lunch, regroup and try again;

They are only six.

 ~

1,100.

In print there are no

Feathered words nor petite hurts;

Words re-forged says sword.

~

Marker
These first appeared on Twitter.  Status Haiku, a collection of my first thousand haiku is available on Amazon.  

Hang On

More watercolor whimsy. This time, a little man is clutching onto his wish.

Dandelion Wishes

There are dandelion puffs all over the school yard this year – more than I remember from any previous year. Almost all of the students have blown a wish and there are still more puffs.

Wishes

I felt a little inspired.There have been more than a few dandelion haiku to twitter these last couple of weeks.

Blow

Here’s to all of our wishes.

Hang on

Update! This piece sold shortly after its post.

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