Night Sky: Hawkmoths, Moonflowers, and Spiders

hawkmoths sip at night
moonflowers bloom under stars
spider primed to strike.

Haiku Inspired by Japanese Culture


last blossoms outside

gifts gather near the Coin Mint

petals on the path

______________________

a pink petal falls

after the cherry has bloomed —

confetti shower

_______________________

wisps of incense smoke

smell of cedar, sound of drum

monks and nuns chanting

___________________

peace and quiet reign

the sound of a butterfly

lichen are breathing

________________

ferns live by maple

stones rest by camellia

air tickles the leaves

___________________

kimono for tea

fragrance of ceremony

whisking green bubbles

____________________

fire, gold, wood, and drum

temple giant leads the chant

Bow. Pray. Bow, now smile

____________________

cherry petals fall

a dusting of snowflakes recalled

cable car rising

___________________

coffee cherry ripe

two green stones wrapped together

bound for china cup

____________________

sunshine and showers

play across the garden stones

a moist wind gusts cool

_________________

morning mist lingers

droplet hangs from cypress leaf

Fuji hides all day

__________________

in the hawk’s garden

a Samurai hunts wild ducks

green leaves grow again

_______________

Samurai wields sword

calligrapher wields brush

west wind wields breath

__________________

from the rocks, a smile

cedar tree bows low with grace

Sayönara, friend

_____________________

Blue Bear stories sing

Teddy’s eyes are firmly fixed

drawn by Shuto’s pen

_______________________

a gin and tonic

fresh energy in liquid

released by the gods
__________________

Sasaki

(unfinished)

Sadako Sasaki

Hibakusha

Tears holding hands

School friends together

Running races

Joyfully growing

Folding paper cranes

One thousand for peace

Thousands massacred

Wind, rain, and fire

Tears shed for you

Hiroshima.

Earth

Sunshine and showers

Twins dance on Mother Earth’s cheek

Father wind blows cool

_________________

In the hawk’s garden

a master has hunted ducks

green leaves grow again

_______________

Samurai wields sword

Calligrapher wields a brush

West wind wields a breath

Travelling now

Where are you going?

Lightening time, warming soon

Green pheasant calling

Insect Waders on Water (haiku)


On smooth still water

along an ambling current

insect waders skim.

(Image by Artificial Intelligence – to prompt by Paul O’Mahony)

I stand

I stand

against the crowd

I stand out from the crowd

I am an individual

odd

different

singular

misfit

awkward in my comfort

edgy in my skin

alive in my own atomic way.

I live my say

I give the best shot I can

every day.

I stand against the crowd

of wasters who fritter

their life away their way.

I waste my life my way

I fritter my days into

the oblivion I fashion

every step I say.

because I am who am

me


Condemned to be myself

I stand out from the crowd

comfortable in my discomforting way

that comes from every pore

every sore

every score of my expressions.

It’s my art

the heart of my song

the spleen that cleans my blood

seen in all my glory every time

I stand against the crowd.

Each and every difference

friction

grating

unconforming

uncomplying

understandable me.

See that fella

hovering on the edge

the one who isn’t fitting in

the one with the shifty eyes

the glint of his own.

You can smell

he’s an outsider

a weirdo

an awkward one

an individual

heart

a body of imagining

power

wealth

stealth

scheming to survive

the crowd

the collective view

the “what we all think”

thinkers.

I stand against the crowd

I stand out from the crowd

away from the crowd

proud of my own way

fiddling the melody

composed of notes

I’ve assembled from the crowd

playing the game I’ve invented

the rules I’ve annunciated

predicated on the shoulders

of giants who have fallen

in battle

against the crowd

castigated on shoulders

of heroes that have died

for the cause of being

themselves.

I reject the way of the crowd

every time my heart pumps

blood from the flat of my sole

to the peak of my imagination.

Consternation

I will cause.

Conflagration

I promise.

The instigation of the self

opinionated

author of my fate

creator of my faith

born to be wild

not filed away in a box.

I defy

I stand against the crowd

that would

categorise me

classify me

entomb me in place

where they ignore me

where they make me safe

from causing a splash

from making a difference

from changing

the course of history

the dreams of others

the Universe.

For such a cause

I stand against the crowd

I stand out from the crowd

to welcome you

fellow traveller

fellow awkward person

follower battler

for your way.

For your way is my way too

your way is yours

my way is mine

our way stands out from the crowd

We stand against the crowd.

We stand up for ourselves

We stand who stand.

Against the crowd

Unto death.

WE STAND.