empty parking lot

some wind collects and swirls

leaves into a shape

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

alone in the waiting room

checking the plant

for reality

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

in early morning rain

I return

a stranger’s solemn nod

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

everyday she waits

at the bus stop;

just to wait

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

rusted tracks

beside the freeway A man

with a burlap sack

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

under the pine tree

that he chose rain

at his grave

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

my father’s winter

coats still hang

in the closet

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

with friends

I open the fortune cookie

without a fortune

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

taking off my clothes

my heart

closer…

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

in another country

from a flatcar

the Milky Way

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

free spirits…

a year later

they return

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

sidewalk sale-

wind twists a lifetime

guarantee tag

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

x-ray room

they remove

her crucifix

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

myself

monopolizes

me

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

morning zazen

marriage counseling

ourselves

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

train receding

its wake in the grasses

still waving…

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

end to end

three Ramblers take part

in the overgrown field

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

farm auction-

fields filled with asters

and goldenrod

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

cold autumn wind

in all the cracks

eyes of barn cats

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

the tree that rubbed

the house noisily

burns in the fireplace

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

autumn moonlight

folded in

the clothes on the floor

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

meeting her boyfriend

our handshake

out of synch

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

sneaking M & M’s…

the crunching

in my ears

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

wanting my old life

when I wanted

my present life

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

cream in my coffee…

visiting from the next booth

a curious cockroach

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

asleep

in my lap the new kitten

I didn’t want

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

the hypnotist

describes her technique

sound of the stream

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

downpour-

a duck waddles away

from the pond

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

after the party

undressing

myself

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

early morning fog-

in the cereal bowl

the spoon clinks

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

in the prayer bowl

the silence

of dust

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

daybreak frost-

the sound of leaves falling

through leaves

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

calling

for the lost cat…

wind chimes

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

mountaintop:

giving back

each breath

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

the way

rain takes

the mountain

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

after zazen

the ride home

without the radio

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

one tree

one bird, one song

the dusk

 

 

 

**

 

 

 

sunrise frost-

under the maple one night’s scatter

of leaves

 

 

 

**