Some cowboy poetry...

Love’s Gunfight

In the gunfights of love
Blood flows hot from the hearts
And cupid’s bullets fly true

Through the wind and the dust
The gunfighters’ lust
Leap like whirlwinds in Sonoran hue

Heaven’s horizon embrace
Casts saguaro shadows through space
While coyotes bay for the moon

The cordite caress
Fiery ‘neath bullet’s lead breast
Propels to make lovers swoon

When struck they awake
And love overtakes
Bang, bang the awakening sigh

For the ghosts of love’s breath
Forever ride west
To the place where earth meets the sky

Where gunfights of love
With the hot moon above
and cupid’s fly bullets true--

Bull’t Riddl’d Moon

The howls of history
Fade to dusk
At the rise of the burning sun
The shades retreat
And phantoms drown
In the land that blood once won
But when darkness creeps
And the bright orb fades
The old world is born anew
Soft on the winds
The stir of guns
Ghosts the past once knew
They dance and delight
Beneath the unearthly light
Of a bull’t riddl’d moon


Thanks for stopping by!

Yuki

Experimenting with Corel Painter and my Bamboo Tablet...

So I have a Bamboo Tablet that puts the F in fun! The great thing about it is the fact that it is not sensitive to touch, only to the pen that come with it. So you can write naturally and draw as well. But the drawing will take a little practice, it will take time to get accustomed to not looking at the pad as I draw.

Here is my first attempt. I find that I have to use sketching techniques to create the image whereas with a pencil I usually draw more deliberately.

Due to popular request from my bro...

So a couple days ago I posted some haiku. Here are some poems from the same time period...

Moral Compass North

A compass always points to north
We like to believe its true
But along life’s path are crossroads
To lead astray the fool
For though he has a compass
He’ll not always find his way
If he wields it poorly
The land will have its day
For knowing North is only part
Of the knowledge trapped inside
East is east and west is west
And next to south preside

(This is only part of it. I have to re-write the second stanza below

But it isn’t always the fool
Not every compass is alike
Nor in capable hands do fall
A compass always points to north
We like to believe its true
Except when near magnets
To trick the pious fool
We put faith into the compass
Magnets whether big or small
Will lure in its own way
Though bigger seems to always win
Small will have its day

The rhyme and meter are clumsy, so are the words, so please excuse the amateurish nature of it....)

Here's a better one

Knock out

Her eyes twinkled in the light
Her hair floated on the breeze
It was love at first sight
I could feel it in my knees.

Across the steamy bar
She sat, my winged angel of love.
Shining through the dark, a star
Fallen from above.

My heart stumbled, struck
By cupid's arrow point.
My lungs began to suck
I wobbled, about to faint.

Then a thrown kiss tumbled
And knocked me off my feet
My lips, in silence, mumbled
Below eyes of disbelief

Then the wink—
She went for the TKO
I couldn't think
And never ducked to avoid the blow

The world, swirled; a mosh of wild color
Down for the count
I found, love
One tough customer


And one that was published on poetry.com:


PAIN, I feel the wind stingin’ my face,
I hear the guttural sound of air--
A thousand voices endlessly speaking to my soul
Pushing me on!
Driving me!
Then silence…
Am I alive?
Where is the pain.
In the silence I inhabit a barren dream world.
The unreality of it shifts before my eyes,
Curvaceous phantoms dancing beneath a blinding sun.
But close by I feel the heart beat of my reality.
Its redundant Morse code, whispering—
Freedom. Freedom. Ride!
It is an energy that stirs my essence.
Defiant against the red staring eye
I await its green brother to
Unleash me!
Send me to the paradise!

Please enjoy and I appreciate any and all comments. They will only serve to make me better!

Thanks,

Yuki

Where have I been?

Well, with a new baby (check out my wife's blog) and work (at home and at work), March passed like a beans through the digestive tract. Now we are well on the way through April. Where does time go?

The great thing about April is that I have a new Bamboo Tablet for my laptop. Now I can actually add a little hand drawn art to this blog. Woo hoo! In the meantime, while I work on a few digital art pieces, allow me to entertain you with some poetry.

I wrote this poetry as a young lieutentant at the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. Let's start with some haiku...

Fortune cookie say
Merry times ahead. Seek love
In a sugar shell?

Drunk tank, think tank, fish
Live in a tank, but not here
Gunner! Sabot! Tank!

Waves roll on the wind
I live beneath a sea
I’ve never seen the sun

Melody of death
Bass and crescendo pummel
Killing silence

A flower unfolds its petals
Color flows like blood
My mind is awoke

Haze hides the mountain
Mist shrouds the valley floor
Where is enlightenment

I loved once before
Countless battlefields of yore
I waged love as war

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Deuces!

Feel like dancing?

Well, I'm back after a brief hiatus. It's been pretty busy around the ol'Kuniyuki house. This week on iheartfaces, the contest category is 'I wanna dance!' Seeing as how I met my wife dancing in Tucson, it would seem like I should have a bunch of dancing photos. Well I have a few.

This one is titled: Ghosts of Dances Past


The photo was taken when I was part of the thriving Austin Swing Dance scene. The venue is the American Legion in downtown Austin on a Wednesday night about a decade ago at a dance sponsored by Austin Lindy Hop. The lighting was never good so I had to use a fill flash.

The photo is raw and gritty because that was the scene at the time. It was real, filled with people inspired by the beauty of movement and the energy of music. Lindy Hop, Balboa, Shag, kick-ball-step, were words we innately understood along with tempo and musicality. When I took the photo I wanted to capture a memory and a moment, to somehow embody the organic movement and expressions of joy.

As you can tell we didn't often dress to impress. But we didn't have to. We would dance into the wee hours of the night and then go to an eatery (Denny's or local all night sandwich shop) to refuel before the next morning.

My brother and I would go down with a couple of our buddies, taking shifts at the wheel and managing some sleep between Killen and Austin.

Here is a short poem I wrote at the time when we would travel an hour each way, and dance up to five days a week, just for the sake of dancing...

O' Muse, where do you dance tonight?
Music abounds, 'tis weekend's start
Yet of you there is no sight

O' Muse, where do you dance tonight?
In the cavernous halls of my heart
Where rhythm stirs the night

The scene continues to thrive in Austin and around the US. Check out austinswingsyndicate.org if you're in Texas.

Some photo facts:
-That is talcum powder on the floor to reduce the friction and improve one's spin.
-The young girl on the left auditioned for "So you think you can dance"

Check out other photos at

The Places I Love...

So this week on iheartfaces.blogspot.com, the theme is My Story in Photos: The Places that I Love. Unfortunately, I do not have digital photos of all the places I love. My life has taken me around the world to so many interesting places, from Washington DC to Tanzania, to Stockholm and Singapore.

Despite the lack of photos in my digital repository, here are some of the most recent places that I love...


I love going out on walks with my wife and kiddos. Whether we're hiking the Adirondacks, roaming through Texas Hill Country, or meandering along Arizona Riparian habitats, the place I love most is with my family!


Another place I love is the dance floor. I've always loved the dance floor, but did not learn to dance until I was in College. Even then, I did not dance much until one day in Texas I gave it a whirl. The picture here is one I took of a buddy while in Korea. I love dancing because you can go almost anywhere, find a scene, and be happy. Most importantly, I met my wife Lindy Hoppin' in Tucson. So the dance floor has many happy memories!


I love the East coast of South Korea. The area is so picturesque, despite the fact that there are areas of beach lined with chain link fence and concertina wire.


The desert is a beautiful place. I've spent a lot of time in the desert and appreciate it for its beauty.


I love the coast and the beach, in particular because my sweet heart is a 'coastal soul.' We've been to some great beaches from Sanibel Island, to South Padre and to the sandy shores of San Diego. Great times, so they definitely rank among the places I love.


Geodesic domes. Fun in a geometric house! I love this place because it was our first home together on a lake named Desire in Renton, WA.


Seoul is an amazing city. Traffic is a problem, but a trip there is priceless experience just for the amazing food, culture, and experience!


Ah, the lakes of New York. Beauty resplendent in the colors of Fall.


Korea in the Fall. Amid the bustling city of Seoul and in the surrounding mountains, you can find the most amazing colors and natural beauty.




China. I am glad I had the opportunity to travel there with my sweetie. It is a country with a rich history and a vibrant culture.

Thank you for your indulgence! Check out other places that people love at the link below!!

Got Girl Friends?

So iheartfaces.blogspot.com has an ad hoc contest in advance of their Blissdom Convention. The contests requests 'girl friend' themed photos. Well, I married my girlfriend, so I'm not sure if photos of her with me would count. So I scrounged my amateur image library and found one idyllic shot of girl friends and their boy friends



I captured the image on an excursion to the Second Market area of Tongducheon, South Korea with my wife at my side. We were sitting by the window in one of our favorite hangouts and I noticed that there were other couples congregating in the cafe with us. The photo was spontaneous. I wanted to document the moment for posterity. Considering that National Geographic photographers may expend hundreds of rolls of film on one assignment, I figured I could spare one or two digital images.

So some background on Korea for a moment, since I have your attention now. Young men in South Korea have mandatory enlistment for two years in the Armed Forces. Most of them are young college aged men. Occassionally women join, but it is not expected of them.

It is a unifying experience that spans generations. All men, unless they receive an exception serve, in either the military or the police. Those who speak english serve as Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA), a relationship forged in combat some sixty years ago.

However, the cutest part about being a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Commando in the Korean military are the variety shows that showcase service members and their girl friends. They are very adorable shows which is why I dedicate this week's blog to South Korean Soldiers and their girl friends.

Check out other photos at the following website: