
tiny mushrooms
rise from damp pine needles
on straight, stiff stalks

tiny mushrooms
rise from damp pine needles
on straight, stiff stalks

How much grander must the world seem
closer to the ground,
a grass forest within the forest
with layered forest sounds?
Or would one be cut off from
the vaulted dome of sky,
and have one’s world shrink to
the limits of one’s eye?
If an ant thought it saw everything,
but only viewed a slice,
would its tiny ant mind have contracted a basic human vice?

lopsided firethorn
remains unbowed despite
the weight of berries




I saw an old man
nestled in a nook
beside the sidewalk,
a plastic jug
of night diesel
beside well-worn,
second-hand boots,
combing greasy hair
with parted fingers,
and rubbing his eyes -
child-style -
with loose fists.
He was awake at an hour
to get to a job
that he didn’t have.
Instead, he’d amble / stagger
along the riverside,
taking frequent stops
to taste the bathtub concoction
made in the bathtub
that he didn’t have.
And somewhere,
at some undefined hour,
he’d drift into
a restless death-slumber
to repeat it all again —
“Groundhog Day” style.

the cave columns
grow by drips - one particle
at a time




The fallen leaves
of a sheltered tree
form a shadow
made of yellow,
a pointillist shadow
painted yellow,
‘til the wind blows
angled and low
to send that shadow
on its way -
or ‘til the leaves
turn brown and crisp…
whichever comes first.

in autumn,
sunlight pierces the depths
of the forest

