Quietly I lie here wide awake
covers to my chin against the
open window cold
watch you as you swallow pills, strip
off your purple sleepshirt
now naked in the blue becoming
yellow morning light
16 February 2011
15 February 2011
2/14/11: Kerhonkson, Samsonville Rd.
roadside brown brush scrub
brown hawk lifts a snake
slick and black
a meal on the fly
brown hawk lifts a snake
slick and black
a meal on the fly
13 February 2011
12 February 2011
On reading Lu Chi's "The Art of Writing"
Now that the stalks
have been brought from the fields
Now that the chaff
has been stripped from the grain
Now that the grain
has been ground on the mill
The bread has been baked
and the meal has been eaten
Now that stomachs are full
and eyes shut in sleep on the
sated faces of my contented family
I'll return to my fields
plant new seeds
What's the use after all
in leaning on my plow?
have been brought from the fields
Now that the chaff
has been stripped from the grain
Now that the grain
has been ground on the mill
The bread has been baked
and the meal has been eaten
Now that stomachs are full
and eyes shut in sleep on the
sated faces of my contented family
I'll return to my fields
plant new seeds
What's the use after all
in leaning on my plow?
07 February 2011
The Mother’s Stick Sutra
I dreamed that I’d gone
to my parents’ house, the
house I’d grown up in
to get the walking stick
I’d carved for my mom
at some point many
many years ago
But when I got there, the
stick was hollowed—
Termites buzzed in it
and it it was weak—
wouldn’t support me
now when I needed it.
The past will not neces-
sarily support
the present
The present will not neces-
sarily support
the future
The stick had been fine
for whom it'd been made
& when I'd made it, but
The past is a memory
Now it was useless
to my parents’ house, the
house I’d grown up in
to get the walking stick
I’d carved for my mom
at some point many
many years ago
But when I got there, the
stick was hollowed—
Termites buzzed in it
and it it was weak—
wouldn’t support me
now when I needed it.
The past will not neces-
sarily support
the present
The present will not neces-
sarily support
the future
The stick had been fine
for whom it'd been made
& when I'd made it, but
The past is a memory
Now it was useless
05 February 2011
04 February 2011
Jazz
Slick sidewalk foot fall music
high heeled taps
or smooth sole slide
tap tap scuff slide tap scuff tap
there's jazz in these streets
high heeled taps
or smooth sole slide
tap tap scuff slide tap scuff tap
there's jazz in these streets
02 February 2011
Rucksack
Notebook
and pen
Chopsticks
and spoon
Water bottle
Prayer beads
Book of poems
Plum:
Sacred things
and pen
Chopsticks
and spoon
Water bottle
Prayer beads
Book of poems
Plum:
Sacred things
01 February 2011
2/1/11: Bookstore
You sniff the air
for a hint of her
fifteen seconds
after she's passed—
a fresh stack of books
cradled in her arms.
for a hint of her
fifteen seconds
after she's passed—
a fresh stack of books
cradled in her arms.
29 January 2011
1/28/11: After The Storm
Feet in scratchy
green wool socks
inside plastic
shopping bags
in old brown boots that
used to be water-proof
Leaping black
salt slush motes
Scrambling over
black peak'd banks
__________City stain'd
__________Yellow streak'd
Dodging falling ice chunks
& viscous clumps
of half melted snow
green wool socks
inside plastic
shopping bags
in old brown boots that
used to be water-proof
Leaping black
salt slush motes
Scrambling over
black peak'd banks
__________City stain'd
__________Yellow streak'd
Dodging falling ice chunks
& viscous clumps
of half melted snow
27 January 2011
1/26/11
New snow
wet like dough
sticks to the faces of
street signs_____&
parked car windows
When it hits the hood of my jacket
it sounds like falling salt.
wet like dough
sticks to the faces of
street signs_____&
parked car windows
When it hits the hood of my jacket
it sounds like falling salt.
19 January 2011
Buffalo Grove
In our sixth Summer
Michael Robinson and I
hid in grass fields
ate wild crab apples
beat flat tall reeds
played they were nests
broke open milkweed pods
scattered the seeds
looked for ancient arrow heads
shit in the weeds
(yelled for our moms
when we couldn't find leaves)
trapped quick brown garters
slept in the sun
and when daylight was done
we caught lightning bugs
and that was enough.
Michael Robinson and I
hid in grass fields
ate wild crab apples
beat flat tall reeds
played they were nests
broke open milkweed pods
scattered the seeds
looked for ancient arrow heads
shit in the weeds
(yelled for our moms
when we couldn't find leaves)
trapped quick brown garters
slept in the sun
and when daylight was done
we caught lightning bugs
and that was enough.
18 January 2011
1/18/11: Guggenheim Pavilion, Mt.Sinai Hospital
Driving rain
on 5th Ave
lashes bare
January trees
I sit
in glass atrium
hog a table
to myself
watch steam clouds
dance on glass roof
drink hot cocoa
watch med students
read poetry
shiver a little
Upstairs
on a gurney you lie
while Dr. Karen Nipper
cuts into your eye.
on 5th Ave
lashes bare
January trees
I sit
in glass atrium
hog a table
to myself
watch steam clouds
dance on glass roof
drink hot cocoa
watch med students
read poetry
shiver a little
Upstairs
on a gurney you lie
while Dr. Karen Nipper
cuts into your eye.
12 January 2011
1/10/11: Evening Rush
Winter's bleached faces
glow blue
above e-readers
and cell phones
on the 5:14
C train.
glow blue
above e-readers
and cell phones
on the 5:14
C train.
1/11/11: Mercer @B'way
Dirty snowbanks
line the sidewalk,
awaiting their renewal
Something the
pale sky promised.
line the sidewalk,
awaiting their renewal
Something the
pale sky promised.
05 January 2011
1/04/11: 3rd Ave. @ 47th St: On My Way Home After Viewing the Hakuin Exhibit At The Japan Society
No thoughts at the bus stop
I listen instead
to tire music on pavement
the wind beating the high buildings
and the occasional percussion of
sharp taxi horn.
I listen instead
to tire music on pavement
the wind beating the high buildings
and the occasional percussion of
sharp taxi horn.
03 January 2011
12/08/10: Kerhonkson: Bear
He comes from the woods
heavily
on all fours
brown back bristling
in the
cold morning sun
Up on hind legs
he sniffs at the wind
down once again
nuzzles a blueberry bush
I sit
tin cup coffee at window
He sniffs
sparse brown grass
noses a birdfeeder
scratches icy earth
Then
having found
that which he came for
he’s back to the woods
a frozen squirrel clenched
in
excited hungry mouth
heavily
on all fours
brown back bristling
in the
cold morning sun
Up on hind legs
he sniffs at the wind
down once again
nuzzles a blueberry bush
I sit
tin cup coffee at window
He sniffs
sparse brown grass
noses a birdfeeder
scratches icy earth
Then
having found
that which he came for
he’s back to the woods
a frozen squirrel clenched
in
excited hungry mouth
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