XIII

doubt hovering
over like a vulture
over something dead

XII

clack of the skateboard
under heavy clouds met by
a shower of rain

XI

reading while hungry
the story fills a yearning
depth that food cannot

X

injured this morning
raw vegetables suddenly
urge to leap roof-tops

VIIII

The shell of a moon
looks like calligraphy
bled into paper

VIII

lunch in San Rafael
talking with martial artists
at the seminar

VII

pinpricks of sweat on
the palm... each time nails are cut
they grow thicker

VI

thud of a chopper
flying overhead felt in
the beating heart

V

may I walk always
with the sun in my eyes cast
downward feeling warmth

IV

outside the front door
alone at night, nibbling at
a picnic basket

III

On a windy night

premonition of Fall

the red moon

II

rivalry or not
gather the songbirds, sharing
the seeds on the deck

I

a blackened tree, in
the fire withering, and
in the smoke can fly

2016, July 18

the soup of thoughts
whirling through and across the
canyon a dog barks


buzzard dragging skunk
across the road the wall of
scent a heavy wake

2016, July 14

Thousands of childrens'
drawings never delivered
to dads in prison

2016, July 13

pleased to see the
potatoes planted last winter
growing this summer


watering the
sunflowers while munching on
the tomato patch

2016, July 8

yellow labrador

in the busy street without

your aging master

2016, July 7

hunting demons
the warrior's laugh
is most fearsome

2016, July 6

this morning planted
a tree and stayed with it through
the day, growing roots

2016, July 5

grass bends in waves and
people walk through the park, not
feeling lost at sea

2016, July 4

Independence Day
people gathered in the streets
watching fireworks

2016, July 3

the bay tree
carried into the night
clearing wind

2016, July 2

sweat on fore-arms
pulling weeds on the hillside
with no other thought

2016, July 1st

dance of chains, each breath

freely struggle, and asleep

without light, seeing

2016, June 30

growling stomach, and
with the festival so near
in summer twilight

2016 June 29

after the sun's heat
a sigh from the earth leaves
in fog, and cool wind

2016 June 28

seagull bones, dry white
shadows of clouds on the sand
these too, could fly

2016, June 27

exchange of words, the
lost meaning between senders
feathers dropped in flight

2016, June 26

wake up early and
practice the high register
on shakuhachi

2016 June 25

staring at darkness
why don't you give it a kick?
the white-blind mirror

2016, June 24

here on a whim
a rose petal floating
in the turbulence

2016, June 23

tonight mountain roads
Losing a tail-gater
on my way home

2016, June 22

after sleep and dream
making coffee, as I do
every morning

2016, June 21

The scent of jasmine
On this summer afternoon
Resting in the shade

2016, June 20

Cold in the shade
Watered a flower bud, when not
looking, it opened

Midnight

From the mountain pass
The full moon and the city
Light on the water

2016, June 19

in the scrap metal
a forty year old tire
though cracked, still holds air

2016, June 18

shadow and sunlight
together the same--without
one, no contrast

2016, June 17

After the fall,
clearing metal from the scrap-
yard for a garden

2016, June 16

staring at a wall
the cockroaches and I, each
our own shuffling

2016, June 15

crying over tea
isn't it nice to cry in
the empty morning

2016, June 14

brisk wind after two
hours in a metal can
brushes of sunset

2016, June 13

plant under the porch
light, it looks like you're sleeping
in hanging shadow

2016, June 12

in the woods with no

light, figures surround me as

if they were others

2016, June 11

the distant city
ten thousand arms hold
windows of Yangon

2016, June 10

yellow kale, is it
Autumn already? in the
refrigerator

2016, June 9

At the dojo
forget heat or thirst in
the moving bodies

2016, June 8

roots and wires, one
needy, the other needed
to answer questions

2016, June 7

A conversation
at the coffee house, while our
coffees sit unmoved

2016, June 6

The patch of sun, stayed
For a moment, then wandered
Onward with the clouds

2016, June 5

Talk with the master
Stories gone in puffs of smoke
The pistol's report

2016, June 4

Stinson beach hot springs
nodding in and out of sleep
like the moving tides

2016, June 3

Fried beets with rice--glow
in the morning sun translucent
and hot as Spring

2016, June 2

Late into the night...
A ghost nowhere needed, can
he share what he has?

2016, June 1st

Fog through the window
That drips from opaque ivy
Brighter in the grey

2016, May 31

Canned beer in the park-
ing lot... down feathers in the
wind, falling upward

2016, May 30

Incense offering
Twenty years of practice, rise
In smoke and the fog

2016, May 29

Counting breaths... the
distance between four and five
is beyond recall

2016, May 28

Computer code runs
over and over like the
news comentary

2016, May 27

A war in the east
we carry in our hearts, as
birds in the forest

2016, May 26

A rose pink as night's
Soundless origin--eclipse
Of stars' defining

2016, May 25

the joyous feeling
being punched in the nose... is
this, too, nirvana?

2016, May 24

A burning house and
Neighbors smiling at me, good
Time for us to meet

House a burning flame
Smoke and ash drifts a thousand
Feet. The place of loss

2016, May 23

Computer wires--
roots--feed the glowing screen. Dark
Leaves in a forest

Computer, I see
Your roots are wires--glowing
Screen, where are the leaves?

2016, May 22

In the mirror shade
And light--same reflection, for
Without both, then none

2016, May 21

Flower, why do you
Fall--have your petals been here
A long enough time?

2016, May 20

loneliness, but then
do I not choose to read a
book? How beautiful

2016, May 19

Cup of coffee spilled
though I held so tightly and
watched it carefully

2016, May 18

Alone all day, walked
Empty hills and baseball field
A moment's beauty

2016, May 17

Grey Heron, standing
like a lawn flamingo
in the zen garden

2016, May 16

Sun on the asphalt...
Behind the cafe, tanning
In your bikini

Redwood roots spilled out
On the concrete--given time,
Wood moves like water

2016, May 15

Sweet potato skin
fabric from roots' labyrinth
buried in the earth

2016, May 14

Sky, waves of clouds, blue-
grey--what leviathans stalk
the air, weighing less

2016, May 13

brown bird, visible
as stars in the abyss of
the day's unshrouding

2016, May 12

Shadow on the page
Of a notebook, crescent shaped
Hummingbird, so still

2016, May, 11

Ice cream, in the fridge
no sun shines, nights pass unseen
And then it is gone

2016, May 10

Meditating, a
Tear drop and the rain also
Water on new leaves

2016, May 9

Amidst my shouting--
The master's constant saying
Want to meditate?

2016, May 8

Black coffee, taste of
self improvement--burn of heat
and the bitterness

2016, May 8

You decorated
The house with curly flowers--
They stay, though you left

2016, May 7

Fish, swum to the rocks
Nibbles a bit of kelp, then
Fades into the deep

2016, May 6

Purple flower, closed
green--petals fallen to ground
just in time, rain drop

2016, May 5

Dawn shadows over
Hills and the bay, wandering
In clouds, the grey city

2016, April 4

Knife in the pen jar
And drinking unfiltered rice
Wine from a cracked cup

2016, May 3

Steam rises from the
Pot of chamomile tea
Even in this heat

2016, May 2

Homeless wandering
The hillside under no moon
Muttering of God

2016, May 1

Window, light spilled in
Black--what waits at the outskirts
And what beyond that?

2016, April 30

Last sent email, wait
In silence. How beautiful--
Echoless canyon

2016, April 29

Crow on oak branch
Dark green. Does the white not scare
You rising in fog?

2016, April 28

Singing in the trees
All day the earth a stage
Filled with soloists

2016, April 27

Rain outside, footsteps
On linoleum in a
Deserted hallway

2016, April 26

Empty baseball field
Rush of wind in cypress trees
A tarp moves like clouds

2016, April 25

Moon, searching floodlight
Sleepless night, transparent dark--
A blanket of ice

2016, April 24

I say I feel like

This song and then the sound's cut--

Instant questioning

2016, April 23

Rain in coffee cup
You are welcome company
This river crossing

2016, April 22

Seated in the black chair
With no lights on, what figure broods
Shadow not moving

2016, April 21

The washing machine
So many clothes, however,
Where are all the socks?

2016, April 20

Bread from inn-keeper
A long night ahead, the moon
Parting at crossroads

2016, April 19

This morning quiet
Town a stage set for later
Only the song-birds

2016, April 18

At the zoo, birds squawk
And fight people over a
Ten dollar hot-dog

2016, April 17

Old baking soda
Playing tricks, clings in lumps
To shock the guests

2016, April 16

Still dark out, the glow
Of city lights is like dawn
Endlessly burning

2016, April 15

Wild mountain lily
Your purple so delicate
For such harsh rocks

2016, April 14

Hippo, does your nose
Itch, with a bird on the crest
Like Napoleon's ship?

2016, April 13

Life is a cage. Heart
On a clock, we justify
The warmth of our blood

2016, April 12

She moved out and I
Was a discarded novel
At times looked back on

April 11, 2016

Riding a bicycle
With the wrong gear ratio:
Planes driving on land

April 10, 2016

Old coffee mug, how
Many lips you've kissed and stayed
On good terms with all

2016, April 9

Long strips of hair in
The bathroom trash, did the fogged
Mirror slip your hand?

2016, April 8th

In halls of stone, light
Blinds smiling. Travelers
Mirror its adieu

2016, April 7

Salmon go upstream
So the North wind blows southward
And the roots give leaves

2016, April 6th

Who but the sea, in her many arms, can share the dying of a bell?

2016, April 5th

The moth asks the door
In a flicker of moonlight
May I have this dance?