overgrown pasture
all the shadows point back
towards the farm

midnight siren
she whispers me
back to bed

with a fine cigar
and a shot of whiskey
grandma's six o'clock news

in a plastic cup
handing the nurse
warm urine

holding hands
our wedding bands
connect

in the rock garden
snow hiding
the plastic bonsai

for a moment i forget
that i'm all alone . . .
time square lights

christmas light contest
only the smallest church
unadorned

still in the stream . . . more information on wabi sabi

above the babble
of the city street
winter sun

interesting things:
"I swear to save all those who use chopsticks" Kompira Daigongen
sakiki
The Kojiki
the shikoku pilgrimage
Internet Sacred Text Archive of Japanese Spirituality and Folklore

longest night
the cat
shares a flea

once i too
believed in magic
winter's ache in my bones

phases of the moon:
"The full moon is given different names, depending on when it appears. For example, "Harvest Moon" is the full moon that appears nearest to the Autumnal Equinox . . . some other full moon names include:
January Moon After Yule, Wolf Moon, or Old Moon
February Snow Moon or Hunger Moon
March Sap Moon, Crow Moon, or Lenten Moon
April Grass Moon or Egg Moon
May Milk Moon or Planting Moon
June Rose Moon, Flower Moon, or Strawberry Moon
July Thunder Moon or Hay Moon
August Grain Moon or Green Corn Moon
September Fruit Moon or Harvest Moon
October Harvest Moon or Hunter's Moon
November Hunter's Moon, Frosty Moon, or Beaver Moon
December Moon Before Yule or Long Night Moon.

interesting things:
hototogisu
Jim Breen's Japanese page has links to sites dealing with japanese literature, japanese character and text dictionaries, cultural information, educational resources, etc.
winter soltice

almost christmas
this crowded city street
where nobody knows my name

i've just started reading a translation of makura no soshi (pillow book) by sei shonagon . . . in the introduction was a new-to-me word: 'zuihitsu' which the author defined as "occasional writings" or "random notes" . . . my google search didn't come up with much more . . . "random jottings" and "a japanese concept similar to weblogs" and "running brush" and "miscellany" . . .

and to follow another tangent, the link above on sei is part of a the site: Other Women's Voices, translations of women's writings before 1700.

solitary footprints
the sound of snow
sparkled by sun

december moon
lingering
grapes on the vine

where the footprint is
the package
marked fragile

icy rain
the open hearst door
waiting

not moving as fast these days
the slow thickening
of ice on the pond

essence of the scarecrow and other essays at aozora

boiling water
the sound of raw spaghetti
shaken from its box

zappai

at the mall
trying not to stare at girls
my daughter's age

check out this haiga site by ron moss. beautiful work.

four bare walls
the gentle slap slap slap
of the paintbrush

"haiku is a useless thing, a haiku poet is a useless person." . . . an editorial from World Haiku Review on karo-tosen

suddenly awake
did the pastor just say
something about snoring

an interesting essay (modern haiku magazine) on itaru ina, interred in a family camp during world war II.

as it's swallowed
a frog blinks
in the snakes mouth

--itaru ina

i find
the missing shovel
snowman's lopsided grin

each snowflake
a masterpiece . . .
up to my ass in art

making the first tracks
in new snow
garbage truck

mono no aware . . . a "sensitivity to things" . . . a "serene acceptance of a transient world"

her new sex position
the recliner
topples

. . . a great article entitled: 'flawed beauty' . . . about photography, zen, mono no aware and wabi-sabi . . . http://www.photoblogsmagazine.org/magazine/dec2005/decgary.php

grandmother's
"hello . . . hello . . ."
the phone that didn't ring

under the thin snow
my butt
discovering ice

trying to recall
the names of her grandchildren
how quiet the falling snow

bitter wind
the scarecrow leans
towards the farmhouse

a day in town
the old farmer brings home
pork fried rice

the teacher's squeak
a startled look
from the escaped rat