November Thought
Every lap I swim
Every street I cross
Every bed I make
Every Night I sleep
The thought comes again
That is
One less lap to swim
One less street to cross
One less be to make and
One less night to sleep.
I Wait for the Day
I wait for the day
when there will be no tomorrow
when all my yesterday will be today.
I wait for that day, alone.
Shining Leaves
Early autumn rain
glistening leaves shine
silent tear drops.
Darkness at Dawn
There is nothing left that is any good.
Each day stretches barren and lifeless
Into nothing good or bright, or young.
Age bent over double in writhing agony,
Living in the past which weighs down
Relentless, vicious and infinitely sad.
There will never be a tomorrow
That is better than today!
It will get worse until it stops
And releases this pathetic coil
Into the void where they all await me
Airborne Reflection
Within the high rise warren of Manhattan
Tucked away in elegant apartments
I left my precious progeny
Of both sexes and two generations
To wing back in Japanese comfort
To the islands of my youth
Intertwined with memories of marriage and more.
Forty years on and the taste is still fresh
The joy, the pain, the bitterness left;
Will there be more of the same?
How many years remain
In this confused domain
To reach out and touch
Those who mean so much
And fill mjy life with joy?
Twenty Days
Before I Leave Japan
The Leaves of the gingko nut tree in my garden
Are slowly turning yellow.
The ripening orange gingko nut kernels
Have started falling in my pathway.
As I walk home one is crushed under foot
And I wonder
When will I get to smell
That pungent odour again!
