December Senryū

thought she was in love | in that way she'd sworn never | again ~ drowning 

te quiero como | la luna quiere la tierra |  el sol radiante 

a living creature |  fire's voice of scream and howl | roars with its own wind

like a human voice | piercing the darkest nights | Chet Baker's trumpet

she longs for moon baths | only tiny sighs of breeze | on blanket warm nights

we are never sure | of moments we are given | to last forever

seeds of forever | live in parts of the present | time is not a line

obedience | feels like a trap of childhood | control of the self

trying to break free | of our parent's straight jackets  |  their constant voices

swaddle in tight our | baby blankets cover with  |  mother's messages

spiderweb of stars | our maps to chart the future |  stars light the shadows

repelling the world | like throwing off mother's love |  a maze of rejection

life lessons repeat  |  when we refuse to take them | in stride and balance

bright sun of the soul  | burns and splits in a fit of time | never knows its end

red rimmed rock echoes | out from the deepest canyons | in your own soft voice

other blood lettings | sticky tamarind colored | bad ending's tattoos 

when all our dreaming ceases | are we awake | or dead to the world

black, red, yellow, white | the colors of our peoples | sacred directions

aching with regret | those distant summer days full | of what might have been 

beauty of poppies | bloodroot and celadine | to lull us to sleep

there are those who come | to do good in the world | then leave early

their words were flowers | bloomed from the lips of love | prayers sent skyward 

changes in the wind | to adjust be pliable | bend like the bamboo

she enters and leaves | quiet as an assassin | with part of your soul

our hearts, our children | if we're lucky let us in | to love them always

snow blooms on sidewalks | appearing as if it weren't | just summer

a treasure trove | bright stars and moonlight | of sea shells gleaming

mechanical minds | no biological spark | interface fails

blushing cactus bloom | a once a year affair | opened to a New Year

where's the hope? | just coping don't count for much | we must move forward

love is stronger | more than any medicine | it can cure the world

lights flicker and die | while winds rip wild at the night | branches whip free