I smile broadly
at one, then another
and another,
this fascination with faces
smiling back

*

*

passed down
from my parents
dust pan and brush

*

*

wind outside the mall
and as I wait
with my eyes closed
a killdeer calls
from another life

*

*

outlined
under fresh snow
the rake

*

*

in line
at the post office
I watch her
pen point search
for the last thing to say

*

*

last ray of sun
in the feeder
a sparrow

*

*

stumbling
with her proud little bean plant
the break in her face
as she sees me
looking

*

*

a pair of mallards-
their parallel wakes cross
on still water

*

*

too hot
or too cold
my wife
-tc
*
the entry from the Zen Calendar for yesterday touches on this…
A monk asked Donghan:
” How do you avoid the discomfort of hot and cold?”
The master said:
” Go to that place where there is no hot and cold.”
“Where is that?” asked the monk.
” When you are hot, be hot. When you are cold, be cold.”
-zen mondo
this predicament of being too hot or too cold is a condition we all share and I playfully made it about my wife since she often says she is comfortable and not too hot or too cold when it is about 72 degrees!

*

*

a few snowflakes
entering the woods
silence

*

*

at the old parking lot
the sparrows bathe
in a big puddle
sometimes I’m so happy
just to be here as witness

*

*

the way
the falls flows
into being frozen…

*

*