Tags
addition, gall, goldenrod, nature, one room, photography, photos, poetry, schoolhouse, spring, subtraction, tanka, wasps, year after year
one room
schoolhouse
year after year
addition and
subtraction
01 Wednesday May 2024
Posted americana, close up details, fields, Gusts, nature, photos, plants, poems and photos, Published Poems, spring, sun, tanka
inTags
addition, gall, goldenrod, nature, one room, photography, photos, poetry, schoolhouse, spring, subtraction, tanka, wasps, year after year
one room
schoolhouse
year after year
addition and
subtraction
07 Tuesday Nov 2023
Posted A Work of Love, americana, autumn, close up details, Gusts, Ithaca, nature, photos, poems and photos, Published Poems, tanka
inTags
autumn, dandelion, haiku, milkweed seeds, nature, now and then, parents, photography, photos, poetry, rain drops, tanka, time, world
every now and then
I wonder what my parents
might have to say to me
in this time and place
the world has come to
25 Friday Aug 2023
Posted cats, Gusts, hills and mountains, ice, nature, photos, poems and photos, Published Poems, snow, tanka, winter
inTags
cats, change, distance, Gusts, looking, mountain top, mountains, Mt. Washington, nature, photography, photos, poetry, tanka, winter
looking into the distance
from the mountain top…
the wind carrying away
what I can’t change
from the world below
04 Saturday Jun 2022
Posted Gusts, Published Poems, tanka
inTags
to ward off
who knows what
i buy a dozen pencils
to be armed
just in case
***
***
covered quietly
by falling snow
in the woods
along with everything else
the deer’s remains
***
***
with three running lights
burning through the night
our neighbor’s house shipshape
on it journey
to tomorrow
-Gusts no. 33 spring/summer 2021Â
***
***
not once has any of themÂ
signaled ‘goodbye’
when walking away…
yet they keep coming back ;
my deer familyÂ
***
***
upstairs sounds
of my cat running around
and caterwauling …
don’t I know these forces
at work in us all?
Gusts no. 32  fall/winter 2020Â
***
***
a lonely stretch
of road
with no passingÂ
from one dreamÂ
into another
***
***
thistledown
in the air
as I begin the hike
wondering when
I’ll see you again
gusts no. 31  spring/summer 2020Â
***
***
I’m not even lookingÂ
for anything
second time outÂ
to the emptyÂ
mailboxÂ
***
***
the world
may be falling
apart
yet my skittish cat
settles on my lap
gusts no.30 fall/winter 2019Â
***
***
only a dream
yet so not me
to drive full speed
right throughÂ
a STOP signÂ
***
***
room by room
our house
undergoing KonMari-
in an easy chair
i drift off
gusts no.29   spring/summer 2019
***
***
even if I knew betterÂ
i might follow
the swallowtail
from one milkweed
to another…
***
***
our evening walk
into the dusk
and silence…
the hollowness
of a mourning dove’s call
***
***
what have I done
and can such a thing
be undone…
a doe waits and watches
expectantly for me
gusts no. 28Â Â fall/winter 2018
***
***
these years
listening to the wind
in the trees …
where has my love
left me?
***
***
the work and gifts
of this world,
whether I do anything
or not,
summer stars
gusts no.27  spring/summer 2018
***
***
waves leaving the sound
of stones against stones
this lifelong mystery
of trying to become
myself…
gusts no.26  fall/winter 2017
***
***
one of my childhood drawingsÂ
of what looks like a factoryÂ
next to a cemetery,
as if i knew somethingÂ
way back then…
***
***
below where the tree
broke off
some branches
carry on
in the wind
gusts no. 25Â Â spring /summer 2017
***
***
another reminderÂ
in this writing life
that it just may be
I’ll never get organizedÂ
in this life
***
***
this resignationÂ
that even spilled teaÂ
can bring up our needÂ
for a differentÂ
bigger house
***Â
***
lying there
at the end of the bed
my cat shows me
what being fully content
is all about
gusts no. 24 fall/winter 2016
***
***
a scatter of feathers
under the big pine
in the cemetery …
piecing together againÂ
my memoriesÂ
***
***
reading an old letter
I wrote to my parents
from Mexico…
another part of me
gone with them
gusts no. 23 spring/summer 2016
***
***
before we were hereÂ
the centuriesÂ
already became eons,
the gravity of light on waterÂ
falling into dark
***
***
old friends
and flowers
faithful each year,Â
the smile of knowingÂ
across the yearsÂ
***
***
cloud gazing…
I thought about it
but wasn’t sure
what I’d do
with an empty mind
gusts no.22  fall/winter 2015Â
***
***
in the dark
these ruminationsÂ
of what I think
others thinkÂ
I should be doing…
***
***
it had been yearsÂ
but then just like that
an email shows up silently,Â
the way a death arrivesÂ
from far away …
***
***
more redundant snow…
time to let goof this day,
to sleep and take up
the life of dreams
and nothingness
gusts no. 21 spring/summer 2015Â
***
***
I am getting olderÂ
with these trees
but can still rememberÂ
as a childÂ
I really loved old thingsÂ
***
***
the time I’ve spent looking
for her slipper
outweighs any good cause-
any love lost
requires such searching
gusts no.20  fall/winter 2014 Â
***
***
the logistics
not to mention the expense
has turned out ideal
this trip around the world
while lying in bedÂ
***
***
I’ve found a place
this rainy January day
to be alone by choice
with some emptinessÂ
that sustains me…
***
***
around the bonfire
conversation focused
on the past…
I bring woodsmoke
to bed
gusts no. 19Â Â spring/summer 2014Â
***
***
in this last chapter
the cast of hundredsÂ
in my dream
without my knowingÂ
a single one
***
***
I’ve heard it enough
to know well
it is not a happy word,Â
yet she just said “whatever”
with a refreshing nice new tone…
***
***
quickening my pace
as the rain picks up
I reach an all-out run…
fully drenched I slow back down
to a walk again…
gusts no.18  fall/winter 2013Â
***
***
at the outdoor theater
my attention shiftsÂ
to a few wild geese
sounding throughÂ
the Shakespeare…
***
***
yet another message
to be found out here,
the plains town
football field
without a scoreboard
gusts no. 16  fall/winter 2012Â
***
***
so muchÂ
not happeningÂ
the way it’s supposed to;
not the least, our cat
circles the empty dishÂ
***
***
pulling the sheet
and covers back
I get in and lie down
prepared for the theater
of my dreams…
gusts no.15  spring/summer 2012Â
***
***
everyone gatheredÂ
in a circle under the trees-
between readersÂ
in the microphone
the windÂ
***
***
summer nightÂ
in a pile of rubble
the house’s scent,
a hundred yearsÂ
just like that…
***
***
the grass gone brown
this summer of my 60th,
that much is clear…
now, to reclaim myself
in this long-term drought
gusts no. 14  fall/winter 2011 Â
***
***
so many tanglesÂ
in the snowy thicket
the sparrows go through…
it’s the kind of place
my past residesÂ
***
***
were I an old dog
with a happy grin
and even some naughty habits
it seems my family
might find me more sympatheticÂ
***
***
passing by so close
and quietly…
it’s as if the dark permits
the deer and me
a mutual sense of safety
gusts no.13 spring/summer 2011
***
***
just as dutifully
as the catÂ
brought the mouse
I remove it
before my wife can seeÂ
***
***
in the attic
to find things to get rid of,
but the rain on the roof
lulls me to the joy
in each thing I find
***
***
inches away from me
in bed,
yet in my dream
I’m on the phone to tell her
I’m going for a bike ride
gusts no. 12  fall/winter 2010Â
***
***
the moonÂ
after the rainÂ
moldering leaves-
not that I ever couldÂ
make sense of my lifeÂ
***
***
I ask him
if he believesÂ
everything he writes…
yes, he says, God has said
it is all true
***
***
drawn to that page
in the paper as if
some great secret was there;
to see the age that
everyone left their life
gusts no. 11 spring/summer 2010Â
***
***
out in the woods a relic
with a rusty chrome bumper
detached…
it becomes my cross to bearÂ
back home
***
***
it’s just
three little wordsÂ
but she stopsÂ
cryingÂ
and we move onÂ
***
***
the deer still finds
some reason to ford
the river swollen with rain,
how content I am
rarely fording anything
gusts no.10  fall/winter 2009Â
***
***
snow fallingÂ
in the dark woodsÂ
like endless thoughts
there is no way outÂ
of who I amÂ
***
***
from Trinidad and TobagoÂ
his smile irresistible
and within mere momentsÂ
he warmly shakes my handÂ
again, and againÂ
***
***
a horse rolling
in the sunny snow,
now, that will be the image
to carry today
for tomorrow
gusts no.9Â Â spring/summer 2009Â
***
***
frisky as all get out,
her boyfriend smilesÂ
at me-
a knowing smile
I once knewÂ
***
***
asked to arrangeÂ
the flowers in a vaseÂ
I put them in any which way –
so glad there are some thingsÂ
which can’t go wrong
***Â
***
it’s her keys again,
the search now
in its third day…
would that we might find
some of our love lost as well
gusts no.8  fall/winter 2008
***
***
thinking againÂ
I should do everythingÂ
just as my wife wants…
these cycles of new snow
becoming old and melting awayÂ
***
***
I leave it
unwashed,Â
her fragile glassÂ
like othersÂ
I’ve broken beforeÂ
***
***
I ask him about his day,
what he did,
if he got enough sleep
and in response
a soulful look and purring
gusts no. 7  spring/summer 2008Â
***
***
in the sun
a fine sifting of snow
blows off the roof-
betrayed once
she never forgets
***
***
how can one relate
to one seasonÂ
more than another…
this deep and clear sense of autumnÂ
stretching back to childhood
***
***
across our bed
my wife reminds me again,
that love letter she found,
one I wrote long ago
with someone else in mind
gusts no. 5Â Â spring/summer 2007
***
***
in the park
someone approaches me,
they have found God
and want to tell me
all about it
***
***
in a silent moment
of honesty
I see my children,
the way they protect me
from myselfÂ
***
***
it is a small event
at the end of the workday
this can of beer
yet without doubt my life
has become such small events
gusts no.4  fall/winter 2006Â
***
***
sun on new snow
fills the field
with a certain blindness
unable to see you now
as I did back then
***
***
my daughter’s hand
reaches out to receive
the plate with bagel…
how silently I mouth
‘thank you’ for her
gusts no.3Â Â spring/summer 2006
***
***
lying here, eyes closed
in denial
until I get up for the day
mostly forgetting
that new ceiling crackÂ
***
***
my wife says
I can’t change,Â
I’m too happy as I am
as soon as the snow is gone
it starts to snow againÂ
***
***
not even 8 a.m. and
already I’m tired
of my little family-
thank goodness for the outside
peace of trees
gusts no.2  fall/winter 2005
***
***
watching my wife
train the puppy
the truth sinks in…
how much I’ve resisted
over all these years
gusts no. 1 spring/summer 2005
13 Monday Sep 2021
Posted Gusts, poems and photos, Published Poems, tanka
into ward off
who knows what
i buy a dozen pencils
to be armed
just in case
***
covered quietly
by falling snow
in the woods
along with everything else
the deer’s remains
***
with three running lights
burning through the night
our neighbor’s house shipshape
on it journey
to tomorrow
-Gusts no. 33 spring/summer 2021
18 Friday Oct 2019
Posted americana, cats, Gusts, mailboxes, nature, poems and photos, Published Poems, tanka, Tom poems at other sites
in