Monday, April 30, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #22


Synchronized swimmers
With bright green legs:
This year's rice.



On the turntable:  Ry Cooder,  "Music of Ry Cooder"

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sunday Papers: Charles Bowden


"Now there is talk of walling off the river lest some Mexican come north and terrorize us with decent food."

--Bowden writing about the Rio Grande


On the turntable:  Tom Petty, "Pack Up the Plantation"
On the nighttable:  David Gordon, "The Serialist"


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #21


All throughout Kiso Valley,
The persistent flow of water, 
A reminder of the passage of time.


On the turntable:  Ernest Ranglin:  "Gotcha"



Thursday, April 26, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #20


Bright blue butterfly,
A gentle fluttering kiss 
Off the windscreen.


On the turntable:  "Rise Robots Rise" 

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #19


Who would expect
This many blossoms
This late in Spring?


On the turntable:  Pat Metheny, "Travels"



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #18


After spring rains,
Magome trees 
Exhaling clouds.

On the turntable:  Moby, "Destroyed" 

Monday, April 23, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #17


Footfalls shuffle across Ena's petals;
Percussive compliment to Levon Helm
Singing soulfully in my head.


On the turntable:


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sunday papers: Henry Miller


"Writing is like life itself, a voyage of discovery'


On the turntable:  Std Straw, "Think Too Hard'


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #16


Noisy "Yawp!" of young frogs 
Reveals their return  
But not their whereouts.

On the turntable:  Dave Douglas, "The Infinite"



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

In Osaka today...


...my heart is still in greener spaces. As in the mountains, rows of pink flank the rivers, dot the hills. In Shin Osaka station, I'm stopped dead by the sight of a massive photo of a mountain ridgeline. This same photograph, in its incarnation as a newspaper cutout, used to hang over my desk in the 'Nog. I'm still struck by the shape of the mountainscape, my feet long to wander her flank. Yet her identity still remains a mystery.

Down in the streets, I'm still dwarfed, still humbled, but here it is by steel and glass. At a glance, I see branches and twigs piled atop themselves in an industrial garage. Two steps on, at a glance, I see that they are hoses and lengths of twisted metal.

Here the air is far less fresh. Sidewalk smokers continue to Speak Lark...



On the turntable: Grateful Dead, "Hundred Year Hall"
On the nighttable: Kaoru Nonomura, "Eat, Sleep, Sit"


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #15


Pointillist pink
Calls to a close,
This long, long winter.

On the turntable: "Thirtysomething" (OST)


Monday, April 09, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #14


With billowing columns
Of wind-swept snow,
Asama relives her eruption.


On the turntable: Stump, "A Fierce Pancake"


Saturday, April 07, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #13


Sunbeams strain through
Shioda Plain cirrus.
Flirtations of Spring.


On the turntable: Ry Cooder, "Music by Ry Cooder"


Friday, April 06, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #12


Pushing on
Through ever deepening snow,
As friends write of blossoms.

On the turntable: Oingo Boingo, "Boingo Alive"


Thursday, April 05, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #11


Hard blowing snow
Challenges our footing
Over Jizo Pass.



On the turntable: Oingo Boingo, "Only a Lad"


Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Nakasendo Waypoint #10


Violent storm
Washes us off the Nakasendo,
Into an Italian bistro.


On the turntable: Leonard Cohen, "Old Ideas"