Spring Poems           

3/2/09

night rains secure

silence passes silence

spreading singular dripping breaths

to every waiting ear

the perennial pulse

3/6/09

Considering deeply of late of mystics and poets and other fools,

friends made whole of the turning toward,

all a part of the tradition sans tradition

of repeated participation;

indiscriminate love pouring forth perpetually, continuously finding

ourselves here, in its gleaming light

despite ourselves.

  

3/12/09

Issa tells it best,

the great matter and challenge

of Amida’s vow.

 

3/13/09

How many years have these poems sat on the shelf,

and where have I been?

 

Unfettered imagination, it’s about.

Grand dreams and greatness

just so much roughage

for the pure joy of release.

 

** 

The most obvious

obviously overlooked,

he turns his head ever so slightly

and finds he’s been sitting amidst

everything he’d ever need.

 

Namuamidabutsu

 

**

Dreaming my own stubbornness wakes me,

won’t let me return, taking me to the hilly streets

darkly grumbling

the ancient chant of compassionate embrace

that carefully guides my steps,

despite my unwitting unwillingness

to simply open my eyes. 

 

3/14/09 

They two

 

Grey and high clouds. Cold works

the eucalyptus trees swift with the sway of straying attentions,

agitates the un-welcome weight of whispers of hearts that long,

of un-negotiated chasms of unquenchable care and concern.

Severed leaves float free, chilled currents

a comforting respite, momentary and empty of place.

 

3/22/09 

A seductive scene

of salutary beauty

hovers just beyond reach.

“Let go to repair,” it says.

I do. And it does.

 

 

**

 

The universal nature of Buddha

does its work with an irresistible pull

through the emptied field of uninterrupted faith,

quietude enough for all and every, source 

of the only trust worthy of the word, given not earned

in the heart and mind settling 

in the eternal now of the time and the place at hand.

 

When asked, we reply, Namuamidabutsu

 

 

3/30/09 

Set-backs, fits and starts. Quitting

after returning. Starting over

again: Life

 

 

3/31/09

We speak, of course, of collecting our attention, thinking

everything an extension of our intent, forgetting

to question origination.

Eyes recognize light, ears know music

and the nose draws

on familiar air.

 

Namuamidabutsu 

 

**

Squirrels, where have you been?

The acacia has been so lonely. 

 

**

 

Picking up the grandson after school

--what’s new--nothing…really!

 

Down hill, crows swoop.

Far distant bay, blue sky.

 

4/1/09

flying ahead of light into Vegas

desert thick with mists

dusted peaks

 

 

4/3/09 

meeting myself

in the doorway

of this empty page

  

** 

 

Red Rock Canyon Park, NV

 

resting at the rocky base of Turtle Head Peak

voices

up from the desert floor

 

*

 

Blown free of their tents

in the newly budding bush,

blue-haired caterpillars

walk this treacherous trail with me.

Don’t worry, caterpillars. 

 

 

More April Poems

 

Early bird calls collect the quiet.

Hidden blossoms signal spring,

thinly lit air, the new day.

 

**

Entering my winter season,

shorter poems reclaim

their rightful place.

  

**

Rains fall

into Spring’s approaching tide.

 

 

**

  

Heart beats smile.

An aging frame kneels,

chanting at the alter.

 

**

 

sometimes needs her own space

this four year old

not so different from me

 

**

 

Preparing to teach

rekindles old anxieties

—too much me!

 

**

 

Amida? Sure.

 

         Just there, to the corner,

         sometimes along side.

  

                       Never just waiting.

 

 

**

 

First light, first work,

through the hills to the ridge

to witness Iris blossoms turn

to watch the pale yellow moon

fall in the western sky.