Long Persimmon Poems

Today, catching sight of the mallards
crying over Lake Iware:
Must I too vanish into the clouds?
—Prince Otsu translation by Michael R. Burch  

This world—
to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields
lying darkening at dusk
illuminated by...

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I once saw a man with kaleidoscopic eyes,
reflecting in hues of periwinkle and persimmon.
His heart illuminated in shades of scarlet, 
marigold and clementine,
releasing rainbow ink from his psychedelic pen,
brushing over his personal poetic sins. 

Free...

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ZEN DEATH HAIKU VIII

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

Had I not known
I was already dead
I might have mourned
my own passing.
—Ota Dokan, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by...

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"50 Words for Poe: Styx"




Sleep now

Your Nepenthe has been taken
listen to your dream 
what you pay alms for
requires surveillance
this is where she is reached and seen
in her dreams she dreams within your dream

He whistles in...

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Fukuda Chiyo-ni Haiku

Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703-1775) was a celebrated Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period, also known as Kaga no Chiyo.

CHIYO-NI POEMS ABOUT WOMEN AND DESIRE

How alarming:
her scarlet fingernails
tending the white chrysanthemums!
—Chiyo-ni, loose translation/interpretation...

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The gentle buzzing sound echoed memories of a fading childhood

When she and her cousin had whispered secrets at the mosque

About undying love and first kisses before being stung by a bee

‘Honey, don’t worry they make...

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What obstacle can there be between a boy and infinity?
Behind the old brick house, among countless fig and persimmon trees, 
next to the concrete cistern and under a beautiful bright summer sky, 
the boy was...

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It started with an apple in paradise or was it a date they consumed

Had they kept their clothes off laundry day would have been easier

	The smell of seduction and no fake news

Honestly who cares whether...

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and the taste of unknown fruits
the rough-skinned oblong bud
the smooth texture of the pyramidal shell?
now without a palate like a dead Pallas
or like all dead things
who did not absorb the taste of distant fruits
for example...

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The Power of the Manifest: 





"Love Nest"



Dinner at sunset, 
the delectable table is spread 
before a vista of deep pink, 
burnt orange, persimmon 
and shades of violet blue, 
below us emeralds linger
towards the sapphire of...

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Goose and purple i saw it strung up in a window in chicago
I saw factories written in your eyelashes and hair and industrialization vomited 
Limp and edible bruised and calling
Geese sing every morning and they...

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I start my afternoon hike up a mountain trail.
October’s sunlight, the vestige of Indian Summer,
dapples my exposed skin with welcomed warmth.
Sun’s rays are gilded tendrils cutting through pines
whose needles’ sweet scent
    ...

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A tepid breeze delicately descends,
embedding a sphere of embers engulfed in saffron flames,
but intrinsic illuminations cannot soothe somber sorrows.
Splashes of persimmon and periwinkle horizons,
turn indigo, before twilight disappears into ebony hues.

Nocturnal pondering drifts to magical...

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In perfect rhythm they coupled softened rhymes

Yet they did not adhere to the script and chapter

This will be over in a flash the onlookers assured

You are lacking staying power and our approval


Self appointed hypocrits
 ...

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                                  Colourification--...

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"Crown"



My eyes are on you
Blue Sky
From where I stand
my eyes are grass green 

silver cut 
grass green 
sharp and hungry

My lips are persimmon sweet
ripe and dripping words 
thick and smooth 
like warm honey

My mind is...

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Evergreen flavored mantras
did nothing to purge bitter bile from my lips
nor slake the smoldering thirst for a Rosary remedy.
Tick-tock petals unfurled one by one
as your poppy shed its last sepal 
releasing a scarlet sigh across...

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"Blue Movie"



Electroflushed
True Blue 
shines neon 
his gospel brow 
indigo guilt crushed
into the perilous
fathoms of her 
deep Ocean 
The Challenger Deep
depth charged
exploring 
the beauty of 
her black habit
plunging forbidden
lace marks 
a penance veil
kissed hard, 
unrepentant
rippling ponds...

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Autumn Fire

About the time August loses ardor – melting into her – she awakens!
Unabashed is she, Autumn’s uncommon goddess, unfolding herself for all to see.
Thrilling to wind’s tempting tempo, she flutters, touching the twilight tangerine.
Unflaggingly,...

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As school children scurry to school
like the multi-colored leaves that will soon
be hurried along the roads by October winds,
we feel and we know 
that a new season is upon us.
Stifling summer’s ardor, autumn almost seems
to...

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Beneath the clay I eavesdrop hoarse echoes from a marigold world draped in marmalade felicity
I grimace as sandstone terra lets all its weight stack upon my rusty bones, buckling under the fire;
The spice upon my...

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Unswallowed lumps of lobster immodest
     Crustacean returns to pincers persimmon 
     Waitress whisk indiscernible clears linen 
     Custom of one equates her eight...

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As an aureolin daybreak streams through the window,
I waken to the face of my beloved in wisteria repose.
Long locks of charcoal hair, silver-streaked,
have fallen through the night across his tranquil face.
Tenderly I move them to...

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Earth whispers
I hear her
I am here to receive 
Nuances of flight and discovery
My senses warm with anticipation

Fragments of hope and desire
Pain and loss
Arrive on moonbeams of broken glass
Shattered dreams sing
Delivering silky threads 
Glistening with seedlings...

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Forbidden fruit is sweetest, or that’s what they all say
So I thought I’d give it a try and went for some today
I didn’t know just what to choose something firm and hard or what
So I...

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