~Haikus, Tankas and Rengas~

Forbidden Fruit—Renga

2 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Heaven drops them down,
¿Doth sly serpent entice Thee?
¿Or, fruit juicy sweet?

Wickedly entices,
Aurora allures—whispers,—
Love's soft entreaties.

Distances and ages,
Inhibitions cultural,—
Emotion's soup boils.

All this suffering,
For a bit of DNA,
¡Damn it—Just splice it!

¡Damn it—It's spicy!

¡Damn, but it's spicy!​

 

Ariel—Renga

2 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Distant brilliant,
Graceful flying—water nymph,—
The lion of God.

Perfection's child,
Counterpoint uplifting bold,
Plath's magic poems.

Precision ordered,
Colored ribbons in drawers,
Mother & daughter.

Wrenching pain inside,
Gushing blood upon the page,
Blanched—white world outside.

Electric shocks! ¡Christ!
Electric shocks to Her mind,
I don't cry for cuts,
But, for this I weep.

Sylvia's blonde head,
Placed in open oven's maw,
Children safe in bed.

¿Are poets mad then?
Trying to express—inside,
Peering eyes—outside.​

 

Love Sparkles—Renga

2-3 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿Is it July's fourth?
Everyone seems to have lit,
Chestnut roasting fires.
Logs ablaze popping noisy,
Fill home's hearth with yellow light.

Little pinprick stabs,
Sylphs tend to oft leave on heart,
Colander—red blood.
¡Call on her—red blood!

Ebony asphalt,
Iridescent petrol,
Illusion's glimmer.

If you grab wrong,
Profusely rust blood will run,
Rose red petal vase.

Gut-wrenching love's storms.
Dark moods—shearing winds—lightning,
¿How can they soothe heart?

Love's angst unbinds words,
Never would have found a lip,
Now sung these deep worlds.​

 

Earth Song—Renga

3 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Trapped in solar flux—
Impinged stream—small particles,
Gaia gaily spins,
Electron wind—winsome whirls,—
Energy for storms and life.

Blue sheathed sphere—my love,
Roux red earth warm feet tread on,—
Air and water nymph.

Astronauts high scry,
Aral Sea's become quite dry,
Sand bowl—¡Dust storms blast!

Anaerobic cells,
Poisoned earth with oxygen,
¿Modern man's benzene?

Acid rain clouds cool,
Naked forests jagged stand,
¿Where's the irony?

Endless Amazon,
How naïve to think man's greed,
Could not rip you up.

Thirty years ago,
I fell in foul, dirty Charles,
Today I might swim.

In the end there's Change,
Stasis is impossible,—
Mutate and survive.

Transform to endure.

Permutation's life.​

 

Unsatisfied—Renga

4 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Hunger's took for thirst,
'Cause the frig is full of food,—
Plenitude can't work.

Eye roves on next door,
Jonesy's got a brand new car,
¿Why can't I have that?

It's in the shop's aisle,
Will look nice on mantle place,
Even if to burn.

Have another dear,—
¡You don't seem to like my food!
¿Is this truly love?

Seeking—Seeking New,
Seeking—Seeking Now,
Seeking—Seeking Why,
¿ Seeking—Seeking What,?
Man—pattern seeking machine,—
¡Never is content!
Restless spends all day.

Nothing to be bought,
¿Where's souls sure strong palliative?
No—thing—can still heart.
Noh,—thoughts,—will still mind. ​

 

Arctic Zoology—Renga

4 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Snow leopard prances,
On blanched undulations prime,
Moonlight resplendent.

Black-white puffin north,
Black-white penguin south,
Seen them both sleek feathered swim,
While I stood and shivered cold.

Polar bear sees me,
Bony though the meal may be,—
Morsel with salt sea.

Lioness of snow,
Longing loves long Winter's cold,
Lingering lets loose.​

 

Shul—Renga

4 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿Where's that quiet place?
Flowing brook in green meadows,
Right inside calm heart.

Jesus threw them out,
Profit-makers and their tithes,
Worship in the light.

Soul's temple quiet,
Life's tempests foul—mad howl,—
Forest orchid bends.​

 

Machinery—Renga

4 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Little man believes,
He's much more than machine,
¡Loose programming's fault!

Colony of parts,
Even mind's an aggregate,
¡That's why he's a mess!

Security's search,
Instrumentality found,
Now it runs our life.

Metal beaten flat,
'Til it's lost its springiness,—
See it in their eyes.​

 

Mother—Renga

4 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Gestating in her,
Passions, thoughts, ideas bold,—
Poems—births—mother.

Educate a man,
You get someone earns a wage,
Educate a mom,
You get a family's heart;
Poverty's a way of life.

Music, art, cooking,
Weaving, gardening, singing,—
Mother taught me that.

Winter clears the land,
Spring and Summer fill world's womb,
Warm Lady—Cold Lord.​

 

Unexpected—Renga

26 November 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿Continuity?
Life has birth and then death,
¿What's reality?

Frost moon—clouds wander,
So much brightness in clear sky,
¿Why should someone cry?

All ocean's green tears;
My poor salty substitutes;
Stark anguish friend bears;
My words—can't help—or, my cries;
May God grant soothing relief.

Other's reasons, can't discern,
Hidden deep inside their world.
Clear perceiving difficult,
Understanding's fog can't glimpse,
Even briefly alien thoughts.

No more bitter death than youth's.
¿How to stop the nightmares then?
¿How can words console and soothe?

I can't even mend my soul.
I pray God gives assurance
Of love's eternal binding,

A place where soul can find peace,—
My prayers go out to you.​

 

Hope, Faith and Charity—Renga

5 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Will, and shall; and when,—
Hope holds fate's preconditions,—
Prayers in the dark.

Shattered many dreams,
Fall down pieces on black ground,
Meteoric streaks.

Distances occult,
Time's passage through ether's void,
Light and dark—both One.

¿Where's the magic place,
Calm charity inhabits,
¿Rabid man's dark heart?​

 

Sea Trials—Renga

6 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Ocean's blows—soft-hard,
Waves—weak yet hard, firm yet soft,
Ying-Yang essence prime.

Strike soft-hard to kill,
Water's instinct goes this way,
No obstruction stops.

Truth lies in-between,
Rise or fall—like the sea tide,
Fills the empty space.

Winter gale on sea,
Unrestrained fury shreds-rips,
All man's little dreams.

Neptune—King and Judge,
Harsh the judgments in His court,
Learn, or—water grave.​

 

Known Unknowns—Renga

6 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Seen by everyone,—
Known by nobody,—
Universe's mysteries,—
Challenging our puny minds,—
Inspiring our hearts.

¿What's the heart to do?
Mind tells us the world's unreal,
¿How to touch the soul?

From few tiny rules,
Specifying this & that,
Blossoms out life's world.

Splitting further splits,
Fractal tessellations—Life,
Everything we are.​

 

Vanity—Renga

6 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Astigmatism,—
Man's devious heart warps all,—
¿Where's Clarity's lens?
Perhaps hidden inside Soul,
Or, questioning inside Mind.

Some true things so false, —
Some false things so true,—
Never seem to be themselves,—
¿Differentiate?
Reality's soul.

Rainbow of lipsticks,
Cover mouths with glossy sheens—
Honey flavored words.
Honey, flavored words.

Yellow, blue and green,—
Eyes can be more than you see,—
Illusory trick.
Transitory trick.

¿Smile's a problem dear?
We'll pull out your dental work,—
Full-mouthed grin you'll show.

Augment 'em some plz,—
They don't quite protrude out well,—
Stick 'em in his face.

¿64 or 4?
Baby-skin bare I adore,—
Baby, skin bare, I adore,—
Just one more tuck, please.

¿What's the cost of this?
Less than whale bone corsets tight,
Enough for the game.​

 

Stargazer's Dance—Renga

7 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Punctuated moon,
Yawns wide—wants to swallow whole,
All of Jupiter.

Moon bracketed morn,
Venus—Mars—Jupiter—3,
Dancing with Luna.

It's a little dance,
Quetzalcoatl—Virgo,
¡Oh, how they flit-twirl!

I recall clear nights,
Pacific ocean—black sky,
Resplendent stars high.

Thank you—far away,
With the same skies protecting,
No more surprises.​

 

Ecclesiastical Proverbs—Renga

7 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Even a blind dog,
On occasion finds a bone,—
If he sniffs enough.

Devil would not be,
If he had someone to cry,
Magdalena like.

One woman's short hair,
More pulls than an oxen team,—
Gravity defies.

Life's short, then you die,—
Better—flea-bitten, old dog,—
Than young, ¡Dead lion!​

 

Crescent Moon Haiku

8 November 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿…—…"º"…—…?


Dark, morning—sleepy,
Facing eastwards,—There, . . .
Line—Moon-Jupiter-Venus,
Gazed—eyes glazed with tears,
¡What a joyous day!


Beneath crescent moon,

Old Jupiter—Young Venus.

¿Errant syzygy?

Early syzygy.

¿…—…"º"…—…?​

 

Winsome's Renga

7 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

Polarizing sex,
Makes attraction primary,—
Relegates the rest.

Sad to say it's true,
Only female friends I've had,
All been family.

Seems 'tween wo&man,
There's no seemly in between,—
Hot love,—or disdain.​

 

Strange Missives—Renga

8 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿If I stole this one?
Crayon written kidnap note,
¿Would you send reward?
Then riches I'd tote,—
No need for an ode.

Loved as flowers are,
Admiration keen and fond,—
Discarded petals.

Death warms to us well,
Man's wry reticent pellmell,—
Can't muster the gall,
For night's cotillion,—
Dance's perdition.

True love's uncontained,
For it to be true,—Then you ask,
¿What if she's a kook?
Looking for another cool,—
Then wonder, ¿Is this true love?​

 

Swim Meet—Renga

7 December 2004
Corpus Christi, Texas

¿How long has man played?
Games eternal seem—End Less,
Practice to compete.

Opaque glass orange,—
Turquoise pool—swimmers warm-up,
Stroke & mind unite.

Discipline bridges,—
Goals & accomplishment gaps,—
¡Mind wishes & does!
(Tyr Sports ad portrays)

Pre-competition,—
Lubricate the mind & heart,
For pulsation's beat.

Step up to the blocks,
Lunge into rippling clear pool,—
Frenzied whirlwinds splash.

¡Splat, Splash, Swoosh, Splat, Splash,
Whistles, Buzzers!—¡Start & Stop!
¡Hearts pulsing wildly!

¡Swimmers, take your mark!
¡Phiiiiii!—¡Splash!—Water spray comes up,
Blurs beneath shimmers.

Sleek the streaks plunging,
Body hugging neoprene,
¡Faster and faster!

Swimmers in their lanes,
Stroking efforts all aligned,
Only clock will tell.

Five hundred meters,—
Lap signs at the water's edge,—
¡Zen does not do math!
¡Endorphins Zero!

They only show odds,—
Missing only even prime,
Orange for last lap.

¡Whistle blows—start watch!
Agree to a hundredth part,
Time's a mystery.

Time is not the same,
Depends on how fast you go,—
Lightning, or man lame.

Clock's the arbiter,—
Impartial cool referee,—
Moves the same for all.

¿Time's impartial?
¿Each feels differently?
Bound or free in heart.

Water scrubs skin clear,
Epidermis peels right off,
Time rubs life—bare clean.

In the Meet,—each Heat,
Time & water's flow o'er skin,—
Goose-pimples both cause.

Competition spurs,
It's just human nature's way,—
¡Spark for gasoline!

Epidermis oil,
Fitted for smooth water's flow,—
¿Sea animal we?

Evolution's sieve,—
Winnowing relentlessly,
¿What is man's real mesh?

Bi-valve breathing man,
Unlike other simians,—
¿Why the difference?

Finger that stops watch,
Is my trigger finger too,
Time & Guns—Both Death.​