NaPoWriMo Day 24 - Garden

Garden

Statues of life, stalks
reaching towards the heavens
praising the life givers,
warming sun and cooling rain,
while roots dig deeper,
ever exploring mysteries,
darkness and light combine
giving birth to the plants.
Gnome standing guard,
silent porcelain soldier,
waiting, watching
for the first signs of winter.

NaPoWriMo Day 2 - Choice

Choice

Traveling along a smooth wide trail
admiring nature, not leaving the path
until a fork erupts.

All is stopped.

Left, turn back around, or right,
blaze forward or venture off anew
where no clear path can be seen,
impossible to know what lies in store,
what may be found, what may be lost,
decisions must be made, dusk at hand.

Neither light nor dark adorn the air,
something in between rests overhead.
Is there right, wrong, best, or worst?
Or was taking a path that led here,
even reaching this fork, a mistake?
Too late to start over, no way to reset.

Decisions must be made.

Traveling along a smooth wide trail,
pondering past, stuck to the path,
a train breaking from the tracks.

NaPoWriMo Day 1 - Hope

Hope

Though it would be easier not to
subject oneself to the hypnotic
pull, tug, desirous reach of the mind.
Paving the path to disappointment,
stress, callousness, then disillusion.
Things which may not come to pass
linger as thoughts, fantasies, growing
stronger, taking root, sustenance
drained from the soul, feeding the desire
until there is no more. No more energy,
no more hope. The thought wilts away.

Time passes, there is room once more
hope, begrudgingly, returns as seed,
knowing the fate that it likely awaits.
Cycle begins anew, energy drained,
transferred, wasted with the wilting
leaves of the tree known as hope.
A cleansing rain, a ray of sunshine,
new life breathed into the dying bark,
color returns to the deep recesses,
deepest desire comes to fruition.
The most beautiful blossom erupts.

NaPoWriMo Day 26 - Bushido

Bushido

It is ingrained, intrinsically known
unuttered and unwritten, yet trained
from birth through sensei's actions.
Honor and morality, no room remaining
for greed or selfishness, a balance
naturally occurring, between souls
animal, plant, and mineral, earthly
scales delicately stacked, a narrow
path, a recipe of success followed
by necessity to the unwritten letter,
the difference between an elegant
masterpiece, surviving through ages,
and an infamous disgrace, a rancid
concoction on history's taste buds.

NaPoWriMo Day 17 - Weeping Willow

Weeping Willow

Why does the willow hang
it's head so low? Shame,
sadness, fear, embarrassment
we may never know the truth

The wind whistles through
the willows weeping leaves,
lifting up, like a joke
trying to cheer a friend

NaPoWriMo Day 4 - Traiku

Traiku

Waves across the lake
a gaggle of honking geese
skimming the surface

and mallard couples
heads underwater, tails up
bobbing like buoys

water's edge, young boy
welcoming the start of spring
fishing pole in hand

NaPoWriMo Day 1 - The Beach

The Beach

Walking through the realm of sand
water's edge rocking back, forth
always receding, as if avoiding
prints left by two bare feet

Carrying scents of salt and dreams
a gentle breeze stirs up the sand
memories of the past, lifting wings
gulls take flight across the sea

The shells and rocks cause no harm
to these practiced and calloused feet
but hanging tight to every pore, sand
has found a vessel for its journey

At last the tide gains its strength
rushing over the rocks the shells
cleaning off the feet, removing
any signs the sand was out of place

The beach is clear, undisturbed
no sign remains of two bare feet
no story left to tell the tale
of a traveling grain of sand