michaeljordahl

point of view (senryu)

most folks are friendly–

perhaps it’s your point of view

that needs to be changed

–photo by me

what i see

i’m here to visit stephanie,

but let me tell you what i see:

the cats, who’ve come in from the barn,

are huddled balls of mottled yarn,

the dog stares out into the distance,

pondering his own existence,

and skittles, she’s just glad to be

a human being, like you and me

–photo by me

wily winter

winter, it seems,

uses classical schemes

to whitewash the woods

with a fresh coat of rime,

and she’s even coyer

than good ol’ tom sawyer

for she dupes jack frost

into doing it each time

–photos by me

a dream away (shadorma)

i envy

those who hibernate,

not knowing

winter’s sting–

and to what do they awake?

lilacs in the spring!

–photo by me

Old Gold

When a sudden storm appears,

You won’t hear me complain,

For in these final, golden years,

I’ve learned to love the rain

–Photo by me

greens & blues

heaven is a place

of earthly greens and blues–

a beach without a trace

of the latest breaking news,

for in their frantic pace

of opinionated views,

it seems the human race

has forgotten greens and blues

–photo by me

unchanging love

love is like the sea,

endlessly lapping at

our rocky shores;

in time, it fashions

our sandy beaches

and yet remains

unchanged

–photo by me

minnesota nice

there’s a rare condition

in the land of snow and ice:

the friendly disposition

known as minnesota nice

it quickens when it’s colder,

and wherever you may go,

it’ll settle on your shoulders

like the softly falling snow,

and all it takes, in fact,

is to visit once or twice,

and you’re likely to contract

a case of minnesota nice

–photo of my daughter, chelsea

of sunflowers and men

it took men a long time

to come to understand

that the raw materials

necessary for life were

forged in the center

of a giant supernova–

yet sunflowers seem to

have known it all along

–photo by me

faces (tanka)

perhaps our souls are

not somewhere deep in our chests,

but in our faces–

why else do people end up

with the face that they deserve?

–photos by me