Keepsakes – 17th October 2027

1.
A kangaroo skipped in
   while blustering storms
   blew through cobwebbed windows
   shuddering bed frames
   jolting my dreams to life—
   losing a day somewhere over the ocean

2.
A Golden Kaiser-i-Hind flew down
   from the highest bough
   and fell into my warm hands
   a little too soon
   a smooth and shiny candy
   eager to be eaten

3.
A quiet smiling kokeshi
   on the bookshelf
   anime eyes wondering
   a green tea maid
   a soy sauce sorceress
   keeping secret doubts

4.
A spicy Sriracha soi dog
   wanders a tropical island night
   shadow dancing in firelight
   before sunrise reveals
   floods of frangipani
   and a chain of jasmine blossoms

5.
All of all of you
   broke off a piece
   that you keep
   as I keep mine
   like a trinket
   like a teacher

Shared with dVerse MTB: Cadralor
5 numbered stanzas
choose 3-10 lines per stanza (keeping the stanza length throughout)
each stanza stands alone as an imagist poem (just the obliquest of connections)
5^th stanza pulls the 4 unrelated stanzas together into a poem of love, of yearning
rhymes and syllabic meter are NOT wanted

Golden Kaiser-i-Hind is China’s national butterfly
A kokeshi is a traditional Japanese doll
A soi dog is a stray Thai dog (soi means lane)

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The Benefit Of Kindness

Nature bids us to do well by all
Every moment is an opportunity
In return expect nothing at all
The kindness is all that needs to be