One foot leaves the ground
then the other. For a split
second, I’m flying!

Whereof what’s past is prologue; what to come,
In yours and my discharge.

-Shakespeare, The Tempest Act 2, scene 1, 245-254

Let us arrange
these lovely flowers in the bowl
since there’s no rice.
-Basho

The first morning of autumn:
the mirror I investigate
reflects my father’s face
-Shiki Masaoka (loose translation by Michael R. Burch)

Silence. A strangled
telephone has forgotten
that it should ring.
-Michael R. Collings

The speed controller
oscillates unstably-
Mr. Toad’s wild ride.

I glance up
the clouds have changed
configurations
while I read of love
and inconsistent moods.

Losing its name
a river
enters the sea

(Photo courtesy: Axel Leonhardt. Gothenburg harbor.)

One call invites
One hundred comrades;
One smile beckons
Ten thousand admirers.
– Zen Poem by Dogen

In my new clothing
I feel so different, I must
look like someone else
– Basho