HAIKU

Softly falling snow
  Gently smothers autumn's fire,
    Turning flame to ash.


Too soon, much too soon,
  Winter's deathly chill creeps in
    Killing summer's bloom.


Silent stand the woods
  That once were full of birdsongs --
    Now a haunted house.


Listen to the sea!
  Its muffled roar a thousand
    voices calling me.


Every Fairy rose
  Wears a tiny cap of snow --
    Winter styles are in.


Watch the porpoise dance --
  Pure ecstasy in motion,
    Not a care on earth!


Melting icicles
  Relentlessly drip, dripping,
    Marking time till spring.


Rooftop of the world --
  Not a place for you and me,
    Only frozen sun.


Swirling golden leaves,
  Scattered flakes of waning sun,
    Summer days are done.


Sun-spangled rainbow
  Arched across an angry sky,
    Nature's peace offering.
 



Clouds with golden rims
  Reflect a hidden glory,
    Hide the face of God.


Though light years apart
  We shared, when Venus winked at me,
    A moment in eternity.


Look, the Northern Lights!
  Finger-painting of the gods
    Playing in the night.


Such a work of art!
  Spider's masterpiece, dew-jeweled,
    Glinting in the sun.


The day spring arrived,
  I sang with an oriole
    And romped with a squirrel.


Lazy afternoon --
  Droning bumble bee at work,
    Nature takes a nap.


You think God is dead?
  Watch a raging thunderstorm,
    See a baby's smile.


Walking by the lake
  In the rosy mist of dawn,
    I am not alone.


Clouds all black and blue,
Lightning-slashed and thunder-bruised,
Bring the healing rain.


Jet-trails in the sunset,
Tracing skyways to the stars,
Weave a web of glowing strands
Across the scarlet sky.

 
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Oysters have the gift
of transforming grains of sand
into glowing pearls.

So the artist’s soul
Turns the pain that life inflicts
Into works of art.