the Russian adoption ban

her cries held back by
a well-chewed pacifier
she is so alone

The Freeze this Christmas, Moscow

Must not stop moving --
a homeless person mutters
with no one to hear

Newtown, CT

visions so searing
that no tears can extinquish
they cling to themselves

Birches

a line of birches

partially effaced -- fog
Nature's sfumato

JFK

he waves to the crowds
flashes his sailor's smile
that Irish twinkle

spider

a spider dangles
on a  glassbeaded thread
another show off

11 November -- We will remember them.

red poppies growing
between rows of white tombstones
as in remembrance

What the flood can't efface

faces from the past
they stare at us from photos
washed by the flood

Disjointedness (thanks to Hurricane Sandy )

The tang of brine
on city streets
disjointedness

The 'Unsinkability' of New Yorkers

we do, we are
we float
we be


no thanks to Gracie Mansion, Albany, and FEMA

Mole Day ( 10.23)

his number measures
even hot air from
politicians

Cuban Missile Crisis: 50 years later

Palms of October
their tall, gray trunks
straight as missiles




50 years after the Cuban missile crisis
the missiles are long gone, the palms remain, an old dictator still lives, and a
young president's ideals were stolen by a gunman

Sen. McGovern

a traveler
alone on many journeys
finds his way home

Italo Calvino

under a ceiba
in the tropical air
his first magic



remembering the birth of Italo Calvino
on 15 October 1923 in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba

Early onset

he lets his tea cool
waiting for his memory
to warm up

a belated birthday senryu for Mr. Faulkner

Wild palms sway
along a shore
still unvanquished

Urban gleaners (Harvest Moon)

moonlit harvesting
with their backs bent they reach out
so desperately

remembering Andy Williams

in the night's stillness
moonlight reflected by a river
is enough

Kaddish for a Cardinal

may his name be great
for giving us this holy priest

a remembrance of Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger, late archbishop of Paris

Neil Armstrong's final voyage

an old sailor
sets sail due west
crewed by memory

Forest fire

cloud of thick smoke
from a burning forest
unheard screams

The Reader

a late summer breeze
turns pages of a book
while a reader dozes

The 7th Sister of the Pleiades

she hides
behind her ample mom
playful Merope

Neil Armstrong

with that one small step
he made a great leap for all
quietly

Gunfire

deep into the night
a dog's sharp bark
becomes gunfire

A sleeper wakes

drenched in sweat
a sleeper wakes
to nightmares

Dogs of Democracy

snarling dogs
so ready to fight
--- for voters

The Grackle

Grackle--
such as it sounds
so it is named

Black Ants

black ants crawling
up a kitchen wall
so determinedly

Music for snoozing

a soft rain
pelts a bedroom window
music for snoozing

Fidel's Inferno

In his solitude
cries from the past
overwhelm him

Paper lanterns
along a river
so many prayers

In Memoriam
Nagasaki

Ripples of Hope @ the Olympics

ripples
of hope

worth more than gold

Hiroshima, 6 August 1945

a bowl partly filled
with breakfast's miso soup
all that remains -8:16 am

Wojdan Shaherkani, Saudi judoka

She gained so much
in so little time
Wojdan's chikara

Oscar Pistorius

With each step
he soars for all of us
Oscar Victori(o)us

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius qualifies for the 400m semifinals

pour encourager les autres

a frog's tongue flicks out
and snags a laggard fly
pour encourager les autres

Gore Vidal's Transit

from his pen flowed
prose graceful and acid
and so ironic

A yawn at work

a post-lunch yawn
so
demoralizing

Sally Ride enters Eternity

Ride, Sallly
Ride
to Eternity

First swim at the Sea of Tranquility

while his parents gasp
a child enjoy his first swim
tranquility

Dark Knight, Darker Night - Aurora, CO

the noon day devil
refuses to wait
Aurora

Molting crab worries

much too nude
a molting crab frets
while its shell hardens

Cuban Tree Frog Courtship

she can't resist
his raspy crooning
and fly hors d'oeuvres

sunflowers

their brown eyes
sunflowers
childhood innocence

stray dog

its fur just hangs
over a rack of bones
a stray dog's hunger

Coat of many colors

hedge of croton
with red, yellow, and black leaves
Joseph's coat

Immigrants on the 4th of July

their eyes reflect
hard work and fireworks
immigrants on the 4th

4th of July

their eyes gaze upwards
at the colorful bursts
of fireworks

credit card fees

bloodsuckers
drain their victims
with a few keystrokes

the air electric

the air's sharp smell
after a sudden downpour
so electric

urban rain

rain on hard pavement
clicks of stiletto heels
heard after midnight

Ibis

an ibis hunts
diligently for its supper
I wait for takeout

Human trafficking

in a locked closet
a young girl cries out
to no one who cares


based on the case of a Pakistani girl held as a house slave by her sponsors, also Pakistani.
The case will be tried this August in the UK.

Kitchen God

hot oil sizzles
on an iron frying pan
kitchen god speaks

First kiss

night blooming jasmine
its perfume reminders of
that first kiss

Transit of Ray Bradbury

dandelion snow
wafted by a breeze
so effortlessly

6 June 1944

our heroes' blood
as red as that
of theirs

6 June 1944

a beachhead secured
and dearly paid for
that June morning

Without a trace

searching for lost keys
vanished again
without a trace

dripping faucet

splash -- sploosh - splish final turn of a wrench fixes my drippy faucet

50 years ago -- the young Cuban exile, me!

one hand holds abuela's
the other a small suitcase
that April morning

Tides

the tide advances
makes a small beachhead
then retreats

to The Ladies in White of Cuba

her shackled hands hold
a sprig of gladiolus
and she smiles bravely

Alzheimer's

trees obscured
in a low-lying fog
that fails to lift

Angel Babcock, briefly a tornado survivor

now fit her with wings
so that she may soar to you
Angel Babcock has died

Ash Wednesday

With their smudged foreheads
a blush of boys emerge from
Ash Wednesday mass

baby's burb

A baby's burb
so unaffected
so necessary

Dickens' 200th anniversary

Charles Dickens' birthday
few have great expectations
in these hard times

Victims of the Euro

In front of bronze doors
they huddle against the cold
the newly homeless

the Costa Concordia disaster

Get back on board --
this order brooks no challenge
from the craven

the Costa Concordia

a wide gash opens
and her agony begins
that moonlit night

Sea of Crises

Afternoon showers
chase me from my hammock
Sea of Crises

death in the midst of life

he draws his last breath
still in the bloom of life
while a mother grieves

boxing day

"fragile, this end up"
takes no notice of present
occupant