Ashita to ashita no tame no tanka (tanka for tomorrow, and tomorrow)
A fog-covered pond
Blinking for just a moment
Blessed swan alighted
Subtle motions of heaven
The slow rising sun breaks through
watashino jinsei ni ko wo egaku
shoshite watashi wa kumo kara kiita “Oute!” toiu koe wo
ima wa watashi no bandesu…
I drew a circle around my life
from the cloud I heard a voice say “Check!”
now it’s my turn
Untitled.
You withered the fruitless tree
“Discordia!” The vinedresser sings
An untimely harvest, sweet patience my plea
-
My soil-bed unkempt, You can see
Roots buried deep in loose soil I cling
You the withered the fruitless tree
-
With death in this moment from sin I am free
Yet this drying, pulling, uprooting does sting
An untimely harvest, sweet patience my plea
-
Command me now and I’ll fall to my knee
Chrysanthemums, poetic lexicon, what can I bring?
You withered the fruitless tree
-
I hear there is still a crown by the lee
Worn by a lamb, shepherd, servant and King
An untimely harvest, sweet patience my plea
-
Shadows lengthen, diffused light covers me
Respirations deepen in this my awakening
You withered the fruitless tree
An untimely harvest, sweet patience my plea
The common progression
A sea of gyration
Hands outstretched
Heart outstretched
The world is expanding
With love and understanding
Hands moving; vibrant
Alive, swaying violent
Knees bowed down to worship
Lifting the veil like a loose slip
Kneeling, praying, surrender
Arms aloft in spiritual splendor
Sweet ecstatic loss of self-distinction
One in the crowd, on the brink of extinction
He moves to bow his head to the floor
Like a reverential prayer to the east
But, the Lord understands social demands
In his heart he has become the least
Recoiling there, still close to the floor
And somehow, just a little, further from the Lord.
I don’t believe in love but I believe in the end of my days
I have seen the leaves fall turned to brown from green
Suture me to the fallen stars of heaven, sleep
I will dream of your beauty
And all will be sweet in this dream of a maiden from the east
Prayers
East
The death of the martyr, stigmata.
A whisper, a phrase. Ja mata.
The whites of the eyes. Heaven aims, ready.
Fire from the sky upward gaze steady
Nuclear futures burn brighter, shiro
The children left their silhouette, kuro
Cradle
Like diamonds in darkness; blood in my car
Cultural empire Allah Akbar
The lives of the saints, disaster and grace
Anxious eyes condemn behind a veiled face
Your treasure, values, resource, we mine
Shokran
Your treasure, values, resource, is mine
Shokran, jazeelan
West
Oh God what is freedom?
Dear God what is death?
Grace, power, sin
Absorbed in a breath.
Atmosphere, progress, social architects
Science and blind-faith the leap made perfect
We send out our money. We send out war.
We send out our loveless. We hope for more.
Amen.
Shelter
Ignoring the; “Obviously, I can’t think.”
She says, “you should try and remember me.”
But I am a liar and you are my grace
With one steady hand she caresses my face
Feeling her fingertips over my stubble
I haven’t shaved since 5a.m.
Living in my car again
Looking like a discouraged friend
Yet the light in my eyes radiates and shines
A lantern under a basket
A lamp in the closet
The fuel light on my dashboard
Gracias mi santa Patrina
Necesito la sabiduría
No gasolina
04SEP2011 19:30
Clear-cut memories of yesterday
All the laughter and my regrets
Coupled together like newlyweds
We are intimate, elaborate, and deliberate
Diction and poise dancing on the parapet
Love is the strong wind pushing me over
Fear like a tether pulling me in
As I dance around and around and spin
Coiling, coiling, around and around I spin
Binding and unbound I dance and I live
On the parapet built by my regrets
Dawn in a burning meadow
This is how I see Jesus
A burgeoning light ascending and descending upon my head
As I dance and I spin without discretion
Five minutes ago
And the dream faded like a memory… like me… “Goodnight and God bless”, was said to a country that didn’t believe in good nights or God’s blessings anymore. Washed over like a tomb of doubt, the colors of God’s angels proclaimed, “Peace!” as a river of death flowed ceaselessly from our hearts. I couldn’t imagine anything, other than a sad song that sounded like my own delusions, the depression of being human, alone in a world full of spirits. The inability of detachment was holding somebody elses hand as I looked away into the outer darkness. I thought I heard a gnashing of teeth but it was just my own grinding together from a lack of sleep. Somebody hold me and tell me this is just the beginning to a swelling symphony, caught off guard by the cacophony of note rubs and disharmony.
Engraved Upon Gold In A Silver Envelope
I’m going to fight
Semblance forget
Rejection accept
Tomorrow Repent!
Oh, tomorrow repent from these failures
Today Regret but tomorrow repent
This life half spent
Unless my crystal lens is deception
Again, this fortune telling moment
Cries out to me
Repent, dead works
false prophets, repent
All I desire is mockery and death
Repent to live
This day is, today, it is mine
And tomorrow I’ll repent
Oh, tomorrow repent
Give me broken dreams
This comfort I send
Broken messages
Hidden waters uncleansed
Today I am ripped
Asunder unstitched
Only if I were fixed
Then tomorrow I’d end
And today I’ll Repent
But, first let me pretend
The foolish child I am
Is my manhood’s best friend
Tomorrow repent
Tomorrow I’ll send
This message to my God
Engraved upon gold
In a silver envelope
