Morning Haiku and Waka – October 24, 2014

high in the tree
bright orange persimmon
… ready for Jen

a splash of color
spotting a ripe persimmon
on a grey day

persimmons
falling from the tree
– wind storm

(c) G.s.k. ’14

Writing for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, we had a prompt using “persimmons” (here’s the link to the haiku series) a typical Japanese autumn kigo … Jen has never tasted one, so I thought I’d tell her that, at least here they’re ripening!

Inspired by T.S. Eliot – October 1, 2014

In the Twilight …

we phantoms
of this deadened era
so lost in our brave unnew world
seething in our hyped-up illusions
our hollow distorted dreams
of some yesterday’s ideals
we phantoms
fumble in these nightmarish shrouds
in the twilight …

the kings are in their counting house …
Mary lost her lamb

we empty shrouds
we watch as the dark horses
of the apocalypse rise
proudly reigning
upon our cadavers
raining their death and destruction
in our name, for peace,
all hail the chief!
and avidly we listen
to the town crier’s newspeak wailing
in a parody of news
the fox hunts the hounds

the kings are in the counting house …
Mary lost her lamb

counting up their money
… Mary lost her lamb
– all hail the chief
counting up their money
… the homeless filled the land
– all hail the chief
counting up their money
… another bomber flew
– all hail the chief

in the name of our fathers
and their self-serving ideals
mythical founding fathers
of an avid nation
hollowed empty principles
of a selfish self-serving age

the sun darkens
the sun ceases to shine
another mighty empire crumbles
in the twilight
a cricket chirps.

§§§§§§§§§§§§

Linked to MindLoveMisery’s Menagerie, where T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” was our inspiration thanks to Jen from Blog It or Lose It!

The Willow – quatrain – September 25, 2014

The Willow

The willow bows with the wind,
It sways and it bends,
Then stands tall and true …
Upright and straight once again.

Storms may tower with fury,
Yet, unlike the great oak,
I’ll bend like the willow …
I’ll dance in the rain …

Weathering onslaughts
Of anger and pain
I’ll sway like the willow
My spirit unbroken.

Such is the wisdom
Passed down through the ages
The willow will stand …
For it bends in the wind.

(c) G.s.k. ’14

This poem was inspired by the beautiful verse written by Sara Teasdale: “Like Barely Bending” which Jen from Blog it or Lose it! linked for me today in the form of a  beautiful video on YouTube … in Chinese (with subtitles).  Thanks Jen.