reading today Li Po,
says he sings his mind away,
watching mine go too—
**
jacaranda blossoms
take all the winds offer, laughing
all the while
**
poems sing
breaths of freedom
unheard until sung
**
if eternity, then
no need to wonder of
before or after
**
confident in words
passing through to carry song
on their wings, just sing
**
seeing itself, touching
too—smells, sounds…thoughts and moods—
life’s living: our own
**
—camping
the fire culture
suggests stationary feet
ringing the pit’s rim
**
they stand, the trees, tall
and heaven-bound, softening
the ground for our feet
**
redwoods endure, permit
our presence silent in first light,
our fire-watching rings
of cold-turned backs,
flamed faces raised
to returning mists
**
the stupid game tests
intimacy’s edges open
to togetherness—
vulnerability: true,
under-recognized strength
**
a lamp in the wind,
a distant voice, the throb
and rush of pulse
things noticed, things touched to gone
rooted flickered feelings and dreams
**
I write, because…
the work is
the work,
always works…
Basho said
the poem’s gone
before ink dries…
Stafford said
his favorite
is the next…
**
for days now
morning fogs
so heavy
everthing
drips wetness
for hours
pale and dim
and sodden
with a weight
that brushes
skin like cool
blown kisses
**
forever at thresholds,
we mistakenly think
we’ve been here before
**
limbs of leaves
of bamboo
reach naked
in bare air
boldness
supple
resilient
muscle stretched
to passing
currents met
**
yard work tires
I rest, write poems, nap—
weeds never give up
**
—having sold old clothes
to the thrift shop:
Papa, your flannel shirts
could bring a pretty penny…
a smile
over
instant coffee
**
chill no longer cold
passes through the screen—darkness
leaving light time
**
dark leaves light
after awhile
returns with stars
**
chasing fog away,
morning walk, blue sky
early warmth
**
haiku—breath by breath
blinked and uttered clarity—
horizon moments
**
nothing moves outside,
stillness quietly contains
inner unrest
could have, might have, but
didn’t in the end, says
all that can be said
regrets remind us
we are like who
we don’t like
ordinary, no better, no worse,
both sides the centerline
gleam in the sun
**
living
a life
among
all others
no in
no out
rising
falling
breezes rustle
edgeless
circles
**
this
life
is
all
I
need
here
