Straight up in the air!
Nobody else flies like that —
First osprey of spring.
Straight up in the air!
Nobody else flies like that —
First osprey of spring.
I am not here
but these red peppers are
so I buy one
**
Wind in the trees
I want it to be louder
than the traffic**
My dog lifts his leg -
“Not on my camellia!”
Screeches the neighbor.
Resisting this east wind moment: scarlet palm fruit scattered on the ground
*
East wind
the wind chimes singing
all day long
After sunset
a blue heron
circles overhead
wings
of descending dusk
Did you ever hike
To become fond of your pack
Inordinately?
The heart is where the home is
So long as the load is lite.
Tom Hobbes’ epitaph,
“… the true philosopher’s stone” -
Tomb bumper sticker.
A thumping in the crawlspace under the house and muddy footprints in the snow: the resident woodchuck is in heat. Rain drums on the roof.
Some Small Stones
Cool sunset
the peach ice cream clouds
all fade to gray
*In the black silence
between crickets and bird song
your sleeping breath*
this plastic container
just the right size
for taking a tail-less lizard outside
and depriving the cats
of their toy*
This chipped mug
from a broken set
painted with irises
from someone I love*
A golden swirl of cirrus crosses the sunset sky, like the contrail of an angel.
*Bright morning breeze
on the top of the wall
crow meets her shadow
The sun stays longer.
The momentum of winter
Carries the dark chill.
Many times I’ve pressed the lever
And watched the shot ooze from the spouts
Like mellow honey lather;
Counted breaths to time the shot,
Neglected pangs of hopes and doubts -
Each pull what another’s not.
Pressure varies with the tamp
(Too loose and I’ll fall clear through);
To make each grain hot and damp.
As this stroke wavered, lite or strong,
Sweet or bitter shifted too
In taste buds beside my tongue.
Old Master Laotse
Was surnamed the “Long-Eared” -
Ancestor rabbit.
- (Ref: Kakuzo, Book of Tea, p39)
The wavering rose
of sunset on the pond
for a breath
it filled my tired mind
with reflected light
Cold enough to drift,
Snow blows horizontally -
Carolina pines.
