
Clouds echoes
The boats on the lake
Sprinkling their particles below
And watch them glitter
In the little flames of
Weekdays’ fatigue
Music of festive weekend
©Byung A. Fallgren

Clouds echoes
The boats on the lake
Sprinkling their particles below
And watch them glitter
In the little flames of
Weekdays’ fatigue
Music of festive weekend
©Byung A. Fallgren

‘Layer upon layer of
Years of knowledge
Wouldn’t be enough
To see the unknown
On the horizon,
Without
experience
Wisdom
Being a student
Of great mind,’
Says the sun,
Scorning the stone man
Who thinks he’s perfect,
Not knowing his fate of
Being toppled down by wind.
©Byung A. Fallgren

He fished and
I ambled to
The Raptor’s Bluff.
On the path
Lay a baby snake
Broken back bleeding,
Squirmed in an effort
To get away,
But its lower body
Wouldn’t budge.
I moved away, wordless.
Image of the beady eyes in fear
Stirs in my mind
Every time I strolled up the path.
One of those what seems
To be trivial
Yet sinks deep in memory.
© Byung A. Fallgren

We dream
Sweat
Bloom
Leave fruits behind
Or nothing at all
Then exhale a big sigh
Amazed by our bareness
Within
Appearance
Abundance or want is
A matter of past
Passing wind tolerable
Evening pensive
Morning sun seems
More profound
©Byung A. Fallgren

Like brush stroke of
Fine artist
Wave left on the shore
Her print,
Ignoring its state
Ephemeral,
Or no one ever see
Her work.
Is it not
True artist spirit?
©Byung A. Fallgren

Once I drove along side the river
On my left, with curiosity of a lass.
Loved what you showed me:
Twinkling river-stars,
Smooth jade sashes with
Tagging love boats,
Which soothes eyes as the
Imagination does on mind
Till they slipped away without
the peripheral view. Then
You swung ’round to reverse the course,
Heading back in the direction of where I started!
As if to admonish me truth yet to be perceived.
With the river to my right, I doubted
Your motive of entertaining my right arm.
You let the breeze kiss the trees,
Played with the river hide and seek,
And questioned her origin.
She pulled stealthily away from us,
Like pouting lover, scorning at our vagary.
Chuckle you did of flamboyant playboy,
Finally showing me the way to my destination.
And I was delighted by your ingenuity.
©Byung A. Fallgren
Old minds are like old horses, you must exercise them
if you wish to keep them in working order.
–John Quincy Adams

Gem of the days has arrived!
Heartache has ended.
Her firstborn son has flown home
To the beautiful land to join his family
From the island oversea where
She was born and grew on a coffee farm.
Grateful, she praises God.
‘Land of brave’ seems so right.
Big apple and strangers
Appear sweet and kind.
Her mind overflows with
Dreams and plans,
To achieve ‘Land of oppottunity’
Alive.
In their reunion I rejoice.
©Byung A. Fallgren

Piece of ourselves left
behind evokes a hidden
beauty, sadness of
lost time or
an insight
to see the stars in
the dark waves.
We are the past,
present,
future,
faulty yet bright.
Tears disguised in the rain,
we fly against the wind,
and our wings grow stronger.
(This appeared here on April 12, 2018)
©Byung A. Fallgren
‘Watch for him, could you?’
‘For how long, Son?’
‘Three weeks or so.’
Grandpa turns to me for my approval.
I feel my face lit as if by a campfire of night.
‘Weather should be travel-friendly.’
I help Little Son get dressed and feed him
Grandpa waves to Little Son as he gets on the school bus.
I clean the house and do the laundry, fighting heel pain.
Grandpa helps me with shopping, despite the joint pain then
At the bus stop he waits for Little Son coming home.
On the weekend, Grandpa needs to take care of Monsters at home.
Grandpa, Little Son, Big Son, and me take a road trip.
I frown at the storm cloud.
Against the windshield splash big drops,
Then it down pours.
On the road pile up softball hails.
Celestial winter game in August!
Vehicles are coward turtles, creeping over to
The shoulders, waiting for it stop, except
Big Son braves to crawl through the hailstorm.
‘Wait as others do, Son,’ I squeak.
His eyes fixed on the road, Big Son is a quiet soldier.
After infinite-hour, the hail stops.
From afar the turtles begin to follow then zoom by.
Big Son keeps it within speed limit.
The Monsters at home are taken care of.
Little Wife has returned from her trip. Duty-free,
We, old couple bid the children goodbye until next time:
‘If life plays like the weather, to give is only love.’
© Byung A. Fallgren