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Kurasawa's Ran
life's seasons on raw display
Shakespeare samurai

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2790282-17000th-Haiku-D-Enter-One-but-Must-Be-Japan

the sun stars in our daytime soaps
the moon stars in our thrillers
both raised their share of tired tropes
on pedestals and pillars
though both exert their giant pull
the edge goes to the moon, when full

Author notes: image from thechronicleherald.ca https://allpoetry.com/contest/2791047-MAX-6-lines---PHOTO-is-prompt

Old Shakespeare's quill maintains its thrill
and coffee fueled Balzac
pages, discarded by a spill
fear imminent attack
my poems wouldn't be as perty
if modern keyboards weren't so qwerty

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2791046-MAX-6-lines---PHOTO-is-prompt

Hera pushed Heracles aside
no, not for him her milk
to contemplate infanticide
was common for her ilk
the milk is spilled, but Zeus' holds sway
and thus you have the Milky Way

Author notes: photo thanks to firstpost.com https://allpoetry.com/contest/2791045-MAX-6-lines---PHOTO-is-prompt

the setting sun
a touch of sadness
here to alleviate the madness
of days that fly by, one by one
a lullaby, our setting sun

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2791044-MAX-6-lines---PHOTO-is-prompt

Nag and Nagaina
in Rikki Tikki Tavi
mongoose dinner

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2790957-10th-Month-Haiku---reptiles

my sword
beaten into a shovel
digging for gold

he wondered, as the road unraveled
how do you pick the one less traveled?
the footprints on the beaten path
seductive with their simple math
offer the glimpse of a solution
and so he reached a resolution
and turned to where no foot had stepped
no creature stumbled, wagon crept
a highway flawless and pristine
ready to see those sights, unseen
that mark the difference of a life
but all he saw was the same strife
the road less traveled, it turns out
end the same way, ends in a route
and you discover, as you roam
that all the roads still lead to Rome

Author notes: wc 104 image from Pinterest https://allpoetry.com/contest/2790990-Fantasy-1070 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken

to spot a tempest in a teapot
among the prosperous is easy
you surely know what I must get at
let's hope it doesn't make you queasy

the lucky devils that reside here
the snakes enjoy the grass' splendor
though claim the grass is always greener
ignore the noise, return to sender

the horror of our idle pastimes
self worship among navel gazers
the thinking up of novel thought crimes
proliferation of fundraisers

hell is not empty, nor is heaven
both are in every one of us
whether or not your bread does leaven
enjoy the splendor of your grass

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2791003-Scary-prompts-

life's too short
not to cavort

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2790922-Give-me-your-best-rhyming-couplet.-

our minds, a blessing and a curse
susceptible to propaganda
accepting earnestness as candor
and catchy slogans writ in verse
we wish to resonate in kind
and cannot fully comprehend
when others do not understand
why can't they see, they must be blind
our gods, both secular and divine
demand obeisance -- we ought
they say, to criminalize thought
that's not aligned to what they preach
what is the value of free speech
oh yes, you compartmentalize
assign neat buckets to your lies
and feel secure in your own truth
ah, for the certainty of youth
what is the value of free speech?
it's hard to practice what you preach

Author notes: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." —George Orwell, 1984

when life gives you apples
it's time for the school
the teacher that grapples
enforcing their rule

when life gives you cucumbers
perish the thought
assign them to new comers
as if they're bought

when life gives you peppers
do can them -- they're great!
that's what all the preppers
will wish that they ate

when life gives you tomatoes
but skips the potatoes
if you give a hoot
tomato's a fruit!

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2790782-When-Life-Gives-You...-Blank-