A Koan

seek . . .

not so much meaning

but the way of words

A jikuzo-shi haiku, and excerpt from "JIKU".

A jikuzo-shi form of haiku

hanging blossoms

            inquiring      a fanned facade

                                          faning ignorance

(A Hiroshige woodblock print)

A jikuzo-shi & honkadori haiku, and excerpt from "JIKU".

A form of jikuzo-shi & honadori haiku

streaming throngs

drifting perfection      crests

foaming white      capped

(A Hokusai wood block print #74 Travelers climbing a Mountain path, 1835-6")

A jikuzo shi haiku excerpt from my poetry book entitled JIKU, available on Amazon, Blurb.com, & ISSUU.com

A haiku in Jikuzo shi form

vitriolized raindrops

agitated placidity

medicants flee

(A woodblock print from Hiroshige)

A Jikuzo-Shi haiku excerpt from JIKU, available on iTunes, and Amazon

Another Jikuzo-Shi haiku

Genpei Shadows

Moonlit Heike Silhouettes

Wait!      Yoshinaka?

Minamoto?      Taira?

Tales of Heian Fuyu

(A woodblock print by Hiroshige)

A Jikuzo-Shi haiku excerpt from JIKU, available on iTunes, and Amazon

A haiku in Jikuzo shi form

(A woodblock print by Hiroshige)

An aizurie version of Hokusai's woodblock print #16, Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Koshu Kajikazawa)

A haiku in Jikuzo shi form

blustery      gusts

precarious     swirling

the high ground

snow capped     surrounded      jutting

coarse jetty

(A woodblock print by Hokusai)

An aizurie version of Hokusai's woodblock print #17 Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Koshu Kajikazawa)

A jikuzo shi haiku

thatched hovel

hoo-ji's view

of lake suwa

(A woodblock print by Hokusai)

2016

blue n' white   collared

twenty first century

share croppers

A haiku for Hokusai's woodblock print #42 Amida waterfall on Kisokaido Road (Kisoji no oku Amidagataki)

A haiku in jikuzo shi form

thoughts streaming

aerated essence . . . mist

a woodsmoked breeze

(A woodblock print by Hokusai)

#194 from "Up the Mtn", available on iTunes, Blurb.com, & ISSUU.Com

sinking cinders

ash flakes floating downstream

wildland forest fires

#33 from "Up the Mtn", available on ISSUU.com, Blurb.com, & iTunes

BOOM!

crackling . . . silence . . . a tree has fallen

Ah! firewood

#204 from "Up the Mtn", available on Itunes, ISSUU.Com, & Blurb.com

spring descends

atop chrysanthemums

cascades of pink      blossoms

Below is my response to a Google + Community #poetsprompt invitation from Martha Magenta.

Love

     an epigram

                  life's oeuvre

#131 from "Up the Mtn", available on iTunes, Blurb.Com, & ISSUU.Com

sunlit wildfire

light bleeding from tree to tree

a spreading blaze      dawn

A "JIKU" excerpt, available on iTunes

 Leafs bud in bloom

                                                                                  

ripened foliage 

Fall leaves

A JIKU excerpt

pale misty air

wood smoked rain, nature's musk

Up the Mtn

#166 from "Up the Mtn", available on iTunes, ISSUU.Com, & Blurb.Com (edited edition)

(Honkadoried from a Saigyo tanka)

the sound of field mice

gnawing through insulation

in this lonely hut

late night companions

scurring . . . pooping . . . on my roof

(Saigyo's original work below)

the sound of water

becomes my companion

in this lonely hut

while the mountain storm

pauses   pauses

Ode to Muhammed Ali

butterfly . . . bee

float . . . sting . . . Ahh!   Ali 

"rumble young man   rumble"

© Keystone/Getty Images (above)

© Associated Press

#170 from "Up the Mtn", available on iTunes, ISSU, & Blurb.com

clouds obscure the moon

stars keep my shadows at bay

an axe splits firewood

A Google + Community dialogue with Nicholas Klacsanzky in regards to this haiku

Nicholas:I was thinking the last two lines could make a nice juxtaposition:

stars keep

my shadows at bay

an axe splits firewood

Me: A much more succinct take, I think I'll try adding the first line as a tanka. something like

Stars keep 

My shadows at bay

An axe splits firewood

obscuring the moon

patches of clouds

Nicholas:

+Bukusai Ashagawa the ending, in my opinion, doesn't have such a strong effect. Maybe you could consider a different ending.

Me:

I hear u Nicholas, It is one I will look at editing, especially if I'm fortunate enough to have another edition published. I agree in does lose some of its punch on that last line. Yet still I think it is effective in a more sublte and subdued way then many haiku. I think it speaks to the wonderment of pausing and looking up for a moment and experiencing life in the woods, of seeing the moon & stars, obscure and shadow the world around you; then putting your head back down while raising an axe to continue with the mundane chore of spliting firewood. I think this is a matter of fact observation, and objective observation that is not magical, but just is, is an insight into life and the wonderment that exists along side us as we go about or daily chores. Nothing strong, powerful, or brilliant, just matter of fact in it's insightful, yet ordinary existence.