Saturday, May 20, 2017

something
to be salvaged
after the storm
a bird's song rising
from the woodpile

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Winds were 60 mph last night. Downed power lines in Cedar Hill.

straight-line winds

knocking trees 
into the pond
a school of fish
check out the new arrivals

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

With The Moon

These are tanka I wrote several years ago. They were published on "The Anglo-Japanese Society" website which is no longer accessible.

with the moon 

against the darkness
I start out small 
in just a sliver
of canoe

lost streets

that twist without reason
except to hold
the shadows
of other people's stories

in the anatomy

of a gray feather
barely a spine--
is that all it takes
to travel so lightly

this morning the river

carries the news before
I can write it down
three deer are swimming
towards me

buried in hands

a face tired
of holding itself up
I know not if this church
is for prayer or sorrow

Sunday, January 8, 2017

the red-faced stare
of a rundown house
like tall tales
no one remembers
where the bricks came from

Thursday, December 29, 2016

through hills and valleys
the water flows uninterrupted
until it turns into river--
we drink in the views 
along with traces of metal

Sunday, December 25, 2016

For Ken

so this Christmas
overcast and rainy
I stay close to the fire
holding onto your words
a little longer

Saturday, December 24, 2016

the book discussion opens
with an arranged circle
of mismatched chairs
we get to know each other
by putting on our name tags

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

maybe it's because
the pictures have been taken
off the walls
I'm so shaken by dreams
that I can't remember

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

election day jitters
I watch a cloud
of starlings choose
the sycamore
over the maple

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

I leave the bed
and coffee unmade.
It's 2 am and I'm off
to the hospital driving
with my sun visor down.