Empty sky blinking
Silently she cries, shedding
White frozen teardrops
Falling in all directions
Like a shaken-up snowglobe

link: pitiless sky to empty sky blinking, the falling metaphor also carries over

Final leaf falling
Floating gently to the ground
On a breath of wind
The naked maple shivers
Beneath a pitiless sky

link: blessings fall to leaf falling

The years pass as the
Year passes, yet your spirit
Still shines like the sun
May blessings fall upon you
Like snow on Mount Yoshino

Link: advent drifts in/the years pass
Written for my friend Saionji no Hana in honor of her birthday

Candle flame glowing
Yellow leaves quivering as
Autumn shuts her eyes
Advent drifts in on the wind
Wrapped in a cloak iron grey

Link: Wet with tears to Autumn shuts her eyes
(Photo by me–the maple tree outside my window.)

My fingers are bound
And my mouth sewn up with string
My face wet with tears
As our country tears itself
Apart, ripping at the seams

Link: shame to face wet with tears

Written after the election, obviously.

Lit by agony
My words become shuriken
Thrown in a frenzy
In a whirlwind of fury
Behold my harvest of shame

link: agony to agony

Time in suspension
Waiting for the next moment
Excited, afraid
Oh, my breath is stripped away
In exquisite agony

Note: Link is breath of air to breath stripped away. I wrote this while watching the last few minutes of the 2016 World Series with the Chicago Cubs versus the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs won by 1 point during an extra inning AFTER a rain delay, breaking an 108 year record of losses. I’m not a huge Cubs fan or anything, but I did live in the Chicago area for a couple of years when I was little, and have visited there often, so I’m very happy for them.