red-breasted,
wings dull
blue

picking
the way
before me

bird
I cannot
name





 


grey clouds, grey water

egret spreads grey wings to fly

the evening settles


 




 


calligraphic sky –

soft pinks, grey pastel smudges

the lake reflecting


 




 




 


smell of fresh cut grass –

the crushed stems sweet as summer

clouds piled white on white


*************


Minamihama August 29


from across the lake

crows call as waves wash the shore –

afternoon drifting


look at me, smashing

the waves on the lake, on the lake

jet ski whining


nothing to write with –

scatter the words on the wind

to fall wherever


 




 




 


silvering the lake

last cries of the bell cricket

late October moon


 




 


**********


For other selections of James’s poems and photos, see here and for a Lake Biwa theme see here.