lengthen

 

 

It's with a modicum of surprise that I look up and realize this is the first full moon of the year. 

 

 

 this idle life

lived solely in the mind --

shadows lengthen

 

 

 

Summer Clouds: haibun

Moonfly and me took a walk through our three acre wood today. I don't know what drew us. I just followed her lead, she taking me firmly by the hand to remove me from my lethargy. First, we skirted the perimeter, peering into it's darkness and then, for a lack of caution, walked right in together as though it were an everyday occurrence.

We kept a sharp eye for wildcats, jaybirds and poison ivy (not to be confused with Ivy, the neighbor's daughter, or, trailing ivy on a blue mail box). I wore long pants and a dead man's shoes, forging ahead to clear the vague trail overgrown in green shadow, twisting south to north with others of uncertain origin intersecting here and there. Arriving at a fork, naturally, we chose the high road.

We bypassed the reed bed where many a crawdad or rollie pollie might wander for a swim or a drink. No deer or unicorns were spotted near its banks. Moonfly was easily able to escape the branches and switches that I had to duck and dodge, flitting beneath while I crashed through above.

A far piece distant, 100 yards or more, and a perilous traverse atop a block wall consumed our return home, though we managed to check ourselves for ticks and chigger bugs having safely arrived. Where's a Opossum when you need one?

'

when I was just a boy

I counted to a thousand -

summer clouds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shadow

.


















a different shadow
with each turn of the lantern
bon dance



.

more poems about corn

prayers for rain -
the church league's corn boil
won't be held this year







the tall corn's shadow
cast across the grave yard --
Autumn is coming

strong stalks of ripened corn

silk entwined in red and yellow
long uneven rows

bright beside a winding road 

turned gray in constant drizzle

tall corn

the tall corn's shadows
cast across the grave yard --
coming of Autumn

manga

.




















all in black
he puffs his inhaler
gritty snow in the bus stop's shadow


never looking up
no one notices the crow


the queue at full stop -
a stolen glance,
the nape of her neck



with a nod to Masago

.

Bon Dance

.





a different shadow
with each turn of the lantern
bon dance





.