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.