on a fence rail,
i saw a scorpion —
dead, but menacing
a dog nudges
its dead companion,
whimpering
after life,
no one contemplates the
Afterlife
grasping the sword
like nothing depends upon
everything
when you accept
that you, too, will be food,
death holds no sway
orange sunset,
casting the lake afire,
cooling to dusk
gibbus moon,
fooling so many souls
who thought you full
shadows thin
as the sun creeps higher
then fatten
tugging seas,
the moon’s unseen hand
is at work
waterfall,
too high to flow, stretches,
hanging mists
crawling snake
in undulating glide
lazes through
taiji lady
does she drift slowly, or
slow the world?
gravity grabs
and slings a comet
soft hand unseen
glazed stone
water rolling over rock
sculpting pebbles
amid ruins,
sitting on a worn stone,
knowing ancients
valley below
suggested but unseen
who hauled water?
dry stacked stones
placed with precision
by masters
jungle swallowed,
spreading like a fire, but
imperceptibly
tell me, Old Stone,
what secrets did you witness
post-chisel?
icy river
all the world stands still, or
pretends to
snow deadens
sounds and signs of life
a blank slate
the breeze dies
then the snow fall ceases
time freezing
deep footprints
tell of a man and a dog
hunting rabbit
an old church
the surrounding snow
is unmarred
cold white circle
deformed in its reflection
upon black waters
howling lunatics
don’t make me fearful,
quiet ones do
glowing clouds
streaked thinly through the sky
moon’s canvas
silent evil
slid through night, watched over
by a cold moon
the moon is out
my bones have gone cold
i blame it not
one-winged seed
drops, twirling to earth,
in slant descent
twisted petals
painted by textured brush
fall as one
porch-sitter views
a corn crib and red barn;
all slouch with age
trust all lambs
trust tigers to be tigers
trust man, not
if a sight
can quicken your pulse
it’s love… or death
listless drift
metronomic mast sweeps
the sea’s mute tune
snapping flags
halyard and hook ting the pole
spastic anthem
creek burble
amid the cedars
stream unseen
cave echoes
nothing that moves by sight
avoids bumped head
empty bars
rarely known in nature
end robustly
a crow caws
standing on a stout post
black eye watching
a child wonders,
beyond this rainy valley,
is it white?
nothing scurries
but mushrooms sprout
wet forest floor
lonely bus stop
one man waits for a nearly
empty bus
streaks of blue
viewed through cloudy skies
a bird hops
bitter winds
slice down from the north
so bone cold
damp air sinks
hangs as a cloak of cold
a straitjacket
starry skies
viewed through tent flap crescent
arctic outhouse
cold awakens
each moment, a moment lived
satori by ice
brisk joy
the skater’s frisson
feels electric
