#rose

a diner late January---
I touch a rose
to see if it's real

#salad

boring January---
I go get
a seaweed salad

#sunset

Winter sunset---
she leaves me
alone

#books

cold morning---
I exercise by
clearing my desk of books

#lost

all it took was that
his opponent wear black---
Federer lost*

*at the Australian Open

#moon

blue sky---
except for
a setting day moon

#tree

doing yoga---
the cat thinks
I'm a real tree

#heart

morning oatmeal---
the no pleasure
of preventing heart attacks

#blue

blue sky---
a child asks
where are the stars

#moon

dawn---
my night light won't go off
full moon

#men

women's basketball---
why aren't
the cheerleaders men?

#blue

blue sky---
the gluttony
of a smoke column

#dream

Martin Luther King Day---
I have a dream there'll be
no more hunger

#witch

bitter cold morning---
a witch has
her curtains open

#elephant

a Bangkok sidewalk cafe---
an elephant*
walks in

* http://tinyurl.com/2x9scx

#stop

a truck stop---
what does your car
want to eat?

#dance

a party---
trying to dance salsa and
speak Spanish at the same time

#sunrise

sunrise---
new graffiti
in black and white

#teach

sunny January day---
I teach a kid
how to draw beach balls

#blue

blue sky---
white lilies stick out
of a garbage bag

#play

the Australian Open---
watching them play
while here it snows

#moon

late night half moon
at the window---
she covers her hair

#first

first date---
she lets him hold
her iPhone

#moon

she offers to read
my Turkish coffee cup---
a half moon

#gym

at the gym---
everyone watches
the financial news

#phones

morning train in a tunnel---
the cool silence
of dead phones

#truck

overcast afternoon---
a garbage truck
wakes me up

#sunrise

sunrise---
her shiny hair
on my face

#football

mid January
betting on a football game---
out of habit

#blue

blue sky---
forecast of a snow storm
tonight

#Park

Madison Square Park---
got a quarter?
I have to use the toilet*

* Madison Square Park has now
a toilet which costs 25 cents per
use. Read more about it at
http://tinyurl.com/375dng

#cat

morning stillness---
the cat wants to talk
relationships

#luck

at the race track better luck sign

than horseshoes---
crescent moon

#top

from top of the world
he peeked at heaven---
Edmund Hillary* dies

* http://tinyurl.com/3dprzd

#milk

cloudy sky---
no milk to put
the granola in

#dawn

dawn---
the whiteness
of an all night diner

#mirror

bright day---
the dirt on my mirror
stares back at me

#trees

new year waxes---
dumped Christmas trees
line the street

#whisper

West Village bar---
she talks with
a hoarse whisper

#sunrise

sunrise---
New Hampshire
votes

#blue

blue sky---
who cares how white
her satin dress is

#bills

January---
bills of last month
arrive

#cat

mild winter night---
a street cat
acts up

#points

January Saturday night---
Empire State Building
red head points out

#river

Hudson river---
snow on the shore rocks
and seagulls

#sunrise

sunrise---
I get over
my January blues

#now

after winning Iowa---
Obama is now
black enough

#black

Big Apple Winter---
the wearing
of black

#smoke

very cold day---
a chimney
keeps on talking

#blue

blue sky---
looking through
an iced window

#cold

January bitter cold---
she
hugs me

#work

January started---
the silence
of going back to work

#rat

the cat sniffs
a spent firecracker---
soon comes the brown earth rat*

*name of the Chinese new year

#rice

new year's day---
there is rice
on the sidewalk

#new

new year's eve---
a man pisses
on fifth avenue

#snowman

last day of the year---
the snowman
is all gray