25 Poems

Watched 05-09-25

It's sunset.
Shadows cast across my face,
blades of grass
as tall as an oak tree.
Closing my eyes,
they fall on darkness.

End of Summer 01-09-25

Wearily the sun collects
its rays from a box.
Back to the office.

A Senryu Quintet Tribute To Black Patti, 1868-1933, And Sula Baye, 08,25,1943

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my blessed little Sister!
When we were young, Papa always called
You “Black Patti”!  Now we know why:


A Senryu Quintet Tribute To “Black Patti (1868-1933): **
        For My Sister, Sula “Black Patti” Baye (08/25/1943)

Water gives rivers life
I swanee, “Black Patti” gave
Life to the songs she sang:-

“Black Patti”

Wanderer 24-08-25

Who isn't a wanderer?
Guided by dispersing clouds
hoping to glimpse the moon.

Who was first? 16-08-25

Who first stood atop the empire state?
Who first slipped into Khufu's tomb?
Who first walked across the stones of the Great Wall,
wind biting their face?

Who first plunged into the darkness beneath the Channel?
Who first watched the sun set across the Bay,
suspended on the skeleton of the Golden Gate?
Who was first?

You'd say impossible,
I'd say "the workers".

We forget

Psalm 25:1 The Valley of Desolation

In the Valley of Desolation all seemed lost.
Denying self and following Christ has great cost.
He had a plan before He created the world;
His plan complete before the universe unfurled.
His ageless will was He would become fully man
And save His chosen ones through His eternal plan.
Ever, ever will He save those trusting in him.
Never, never will

Why do we write negative poems? 09-08-25

It’s raining outside-
no, more than that.
The rain falls in blocks,
thick curtains that turn the world to ash and silver,
smothering it in the hiss of splattering drops.

Outside my old home
stood a bamboo tree, four meters tall.
On days like this
(when I wasn’t welded to the TV)
I’d watch its branches bow and sway,
like a fishing rod straining
against some

The Masnavi of Giti and Saeed - Part 24, 25 and 26

Part Twenty-Four — The Fifth Cupbearer's Song

O Saqi, one glance—show mercy here,
And heal this wound with wine so clear.

Fill up the cup for we are dry,
Drunk with desire that makes us sigh.

That cup like chalice of the kings,
Whose breath brought joy to all good things.

A draught that when it's poured for any,
Banishes sorrow, heals so

Forest of Pines 02-08-25

To the clouds-
a tousled crown of green,
a bump in the fabric of land.

To the deer-
a hall of silent pillars,
woven shadows,
mighty temples.

To the rain-
a fleeting flash of green and brown

then hush-
splattering on fallen needles.

Names in a Sandstone Wall 27-07-25

A declaration of love etches
itself deep into a bed of soft sandstone.
The kind that's hastily scratched on
with nothing more than a stone
found on the nearby ground.
The letters are shaky, imperfect
but the heart that binds them is true.
Some initials are old, some much younger
yet all possess the flair of emotion that their carvers had. 
Inevitably, they

Summit 19-07-25

Through the clouds
Another step, another step...
To summit together
As a group of friends.

Legs may tremble,
Heads will hang
But through the clouds
We shall ascend.

Can't turn back,
Don't look down
Raise your gaze
To meet the crown.

Another step, another step
Till we rest between summit and sky,
For us, for friends,
We walk as one with steady stride.

Are we really who we think we are? 10-07-25

I chanced upon a rushing mirror
who danced along with all the urgency 
of an early summer's wind,
a serene creature whose silver surface
seemed to only focus on reaching the sea.
In its tail I saw a human,
whose hair was the same colour as mine,
whose nose and mouth breathed the same air I did,
whose eyes captured my every

Quiet Lights Escape-Hiku 25-

Written: July 4th, 2025, for Brian Strand

                 ***********
r
    e
         f
               l
   

Painting 30-06-25

Blank blue sky awaits
for the night to dust
stars across its face.

Spring Flood 22-06-25

Last year the fields were dust and bone,
The rivers whispered in dirt and stone.
The sun stood high, a ruthless king
A crown of fire, heat never-ending.

It saw itself in glory and pride
And looked at the Earth in arrogant snide
“See me, how I’ve grown into a King,
Without me you wouldn’t be anything”

On the ground, far below
The flowers

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