Tag: dVerse
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A November with Basho, Day 7
Crossed on the ferry at Tsukinowa to the post town of Se-no-ue to see the ruins that were Sato Shoji’s house, beyond town to the left, near the mountains. We were told to look at Saba Moor in Iizuka, and we eventually came to Maru Hill where the castle ruins lay. Seeing the main gate…
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Lupine Ultimatum: a #tankaprose
…She is a howling in the wilderness we can never see… -from The Memory Palace, by Mira Bartók A mere howl away. That’s as far as the family has roamed. That’s all I need do, and their answer will guide me to them. Why don’t I? I am the Alpha, father to my cubs, mate of…
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A November with Basho, Day 4
Set out to see the Murder Stone, Sessho-seki, on a borrowed horse, and the man leading it asked for a poem. “Something beautiful, please.” The horse turns his head– from across the wide plain, a cuckoo’s cry Basho, “Narrow Road to the Interior,” Translated by Sam Hamil, The Essential Basho, pg. 8-9 Another Momento Mori…
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A Halloween Horror
Halloween … Why would anyone need to fear the dead? Wait… did you hear that? What was that thump in the dark? Who whispers that name? Why is it suddenly so cold? gathered clouds what secrets emerge from the tomb? that I should shudder seeing my own headstone Paralyzed with fear. Heartbeat like the toning…
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Lamentatio Super Mortuo: An #AmericanSentence #Prosery #Haibun
Samhain! As the Veil thins, and mists thicken, we gather to cross over. We again walk the Earth upon which we lived. What do we see this night? Our descendent’s children parade from house to house, costumed as creatures of the night that they’ve taken to calling us! Where is our feasting hall? The cups…
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Emptied Quivers: A #quadrille #haibun
One knocked arrow after another flies. A rain of fletch from bags and quivers. And French knights fall by the score. Archers hold the muddy field as surviving knights flee. Emptied Quivers. The key to Henry V’s victory. Agincourt How English Longbows made history for dVerse Poets’ Quadrille Monday #90: We’re all a-Quiver (pubtended by…
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Indigenous Day: a #haibun
I stood before the candidates during the opening ceremonies of the Boy Scouts of America’s Order of the Arrow Ordeal weekend. Dressed at an Iroquois chief, I performed the script for the role I played: Nutiket, guardian of the circle. Other members of the ceremony complemented my performance as a “kick-add Nutiket!” I had no…
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O Francis: a #tankaprose #Ekphrastic #ode
What was it like, Francis? To experience the wounds of Christ? How did you do it? You were another noble-aspiring Merchant’s son, fighting for Assisi in another of the Italian city-states endless wars. Was it the illness you endured during your captivity? Did that brush with death open your eyes to the Truth? How did…
