Randolph the Gray

snow housefly comes in
surviving the winter cold
buzzing happily

#dailyhaikuprompt

droplets of mist glow
spider’s web in the moonlight
silent serene night

#DailyHaikuPrompt #serene #web

still the pain goes on ripping
and brutalizing everything
in its path while
the blind, true #fools press
onward, oblivious to the
pleading cries and splatter of earth’s blood

#vss365 #fool

playing the archetype like
Parsifal, the pure #fool missing
all the social cues, stumbling and bumbling, seeking a cure
for all that ails this life deep
down, a wound unseen by
most everyone else

#vss365 #fool

ecstatic prayer the
long gone Shakers
#turning, whirling
vibrating
american dervishes
compelled to “turn”
dizzying
childlike
joy

#vss365 #turning

calendars galore!
counting days different ways
many more new years

#DailyHaikuPrompt (new year)

we held each other
just an extended hug, right?
quick kiss on the cheek
you caught the edge of my lips
your smile is keeping me warm

#TankaThursday #smile

a dark afternoon
the lights on, I stare
through my faint #reflection
watching a cold steady rain
50 years here & I have never
seen it rain on Christmas Day

I want to walk & wander
without destination,
inhaling scents of the newly wet
ground where winter snows
are missing

#vss365 #reflection

I tried to #train my shadow, that dark half of my soul. It loves to go wandering as a doppelgänger, appearing to people who swear they saw me when I was still at #home. I guess we have a lot of work to do.

#vss365 #train #home

🤣

cold crisp winter air
wafts in with the scent of #pine
winter has arrived

#DailyHaikuPrompt #pine #senryu

I infiltrated a #troll farm. They’re breeding those monsters to be meaner & more invasive. I was able to start a sniffer infection. I’m hoping to stop them before they unleash their wrath on Zuckerbook & X marks the spot, although they pretty much already have the latter slimed.

#vss365 #troll

if #ravens gather
the veil between worlds is thin
wise feathered seers

#DailyHaikuPrompt #ravens

#suitcase packed
would-be emigrant
watches the news closely
to stay and fight ?
to run far away ?
or just freeze like
a frightened animal
until it’s too late

#vss365 #suitcase

iron pot steaming
whisk and bowl and leaves waiting
creating #hot #tea

#DailyHaikuPrompt #hot #tea #senryu

a ragged #journey
arriving hungry and tired
from the mountain path
I watch the full moon rising
illuminating Kyoto

#vss365 #journey #tanka

Living in my father’s old house, I received a postcard out of a time warp. An old black & white photo with stamps and a message on the back. Shanghai, September 1945, dad in uniform, smiling. It said: to Joe (my mom) and my future children with love from China. How did he know?

#vss365 #postcard

ice forms on the pond
the freezing fog coats the pines
winter’s sleep arrives

#DailyHaikuPrompt #ice #coat

would time die if
I could #travel at
the speed of light?
or perhaps it is my ego
bound too tightly

in search of lost
time I stumble into
this jagged world
its shards full of
deep pockets of
cruel void

where can we go when
leaving is not a choice?

#vss365 #travel

And Hegseth is a misogynist white nationalist Christofascist

the closest I’ve come to free fall was
falling in love too many times and
always a collision so often a sudden
crash into each other stunned but
soon enough again we fall

birthed & exposed we
fall from grace to land upon our
mother’s breast &
soon enough we take a step
falling again & again until
running we halt the falling for
life with each step drawn down
toward a tumbling planet yearning for self-immolation within the sun’s glory

#poem #falling #poetry

Now that I’m an old salt, I think I’d like to retire to a Canadian #maritime province. Perhaps to a cliff top monastery on a barren Nova Scotia coastline where I can stare at the sea and meditate off into nothingness.

#vss365 #maritime

another layer
falling away
mask after mask
weeping while
peeling my #onion
wondering what jewel
might be found after
all these tears
what face will
remain when
nothing is
left

#whistpr #onion

A #coin tossed three times
Lands on its edge three time
Not heads
Not tails
Laughing at our
Splintered vision

#vss365 #poem

an attic window
hides a strange menagerie
arranged on the sill
where a crow collects treasures
gifts for those who see and hear

#TankaThursday #poetry #tanka #collect

in my winter mind
February days lengthen yet
spring feels unreachable now
I drop so fast and fall
forever waiting to
hit bottom

#poetry #poem

two dry leaves of grass
still clinging to your sweater
yesterday’s sweet kiss

#haiga #senryu

showing up to work
wearing a suitable face
performing this smiling role
I know by heart
I keep a couple of extra masks
stuffed in my back pocket
for changing situations
but masking is another
exhausting task
increasing the already heavy
weight of depression

#poetry

mountain above clouds
thunder below deep stillness
chilling winds return
springtime’s arrival delayed
the cold air is clear and sweet

#tanka