bury nose in snow
toss the head and prance away
hunting for snow mice

The time a heart keeps

Slow, heavy shovel swings
Sand and stones landing on wood
Silent, steady schuckling

parenting

don't copy me child
I set a poor example
learn your own bad words

fire season

smoky horizon
trees and homes consumed by flames
it could have been here

wildlife

mama looks, crosses
assuming it is safe now
calls her spotted fawn

why we cry

wine turns over the years
to vinegar or elixir
laughter also brings tears

Rising and falling

mourning, like diving
requires buoyancy and weight,
careful balancing

sterling light

sprinkler mist washes me
silver fog from underground
makes me miss the sea

I'm no Richard Henry Dana or Hafez-e Shirazi

Two poops at the flag
Stop. Squat. Grab. Wrap. Knot. Repeat.
Ghazals in the bag.

Evening Walks

Moon and Venus glow
above the fading sunset
Saturn joins the dance

bats fly crooked paths
across the fading twilight
eating mosquitoes

a blue bowl upturned
with jagged orange edges
filled with evening light

white lights sliding down
across the distant mountain
red lights going up

walking in the dark
a million twinkling stars shine
one fell from the sky

rustle in the grass
bounding, running away fast
Shadow smells a deer

beat

it warms my heart to see
light play on the slatted shade
straight sun blinds, they said

Sing We the Leis of Old

not bouquets of words
we toss twisted little wreaths
nosegays in stern foam

Morning Walks

we cross the wetland
climb up to the fork and choose
which way to go first

red wing blackbirds trill
when my dog walks on the road
ducks fly from water

maybe we go right
enjoy the early dawn
walk home in the shade

sometimes we go left
taking the shady way first
then towards the bright sun

angry barking dog
protecting territory
greeting us daily

Neighbors' bumper stickers

"Smile, Jesus loves you."
"I do not like your Christians."
Who lives above you?

karma holiday

gratification
isn't instant as karma is
work isn't vacation

ask why not

the trail a blank sheet
no one riding here but me
and my excuses

Under cover

Sisal Borsalino,
A baseball cap, a kippah,
Reveal what we know

Apple, strawberry,
Cloying semitoxic plume
Trails her, makes me sneeze

The Livin' Is Easy

Ch, ch, ch, ch, bzzz
Sprinklers chatter, hiss, and turn
Making bees dizzy

practicing

the new day dawns still
empty and we breathe until
we have had our fill

Memorial Day 2007

searching for quarters
lost in the dunes--in the sand
no quarter, no change

The Road Forks

collaboration
two writers work the same chain
like a tandem bike

Riding past roadkill

Around the blind bend
the ripe smell has not yet turned
bitter at the end

Honking

Geese, high by the sun;
Dads, hard into soft white cloths;
Drivers, the bad ones.

Catkin to Claritin

Catkin tumbleweeds
Roll yellow fog down the curb.
Where's my Claritin?

Inside Out

bluetooth, cigarette
power windows, hot latte
the breeze light, grass wet

Riding Alone

yellow forsythia

and pink magnolia petals

wheeling in the wind

Hospital Crosswalk

The envelope side
has large block print: MRI
his gait slow, eyes wide

Growing old

Taste of sleep or tears
flying or falling I can't tell
after all these years

From here

Geese gather, crows squawk.
The blue lake reflects the hawk.
You fly away. I walk.

up the hill

pianissimo
breath see-saws, silent, sighing
listen like a cat

Spring

Frosty grass a geode,
icy blades snapped where I strode,
light the sun erodes

Many rivers

again rain drops and lands

my breath condenses in clouds

rising, falling again

I'm not a McDLT

sun warms and blinds me

sweat on my ear freezes my feet

the moon lifts the sea

snow white smiles

pine boughs, needles, cones
snow, a foggy white blanket
smiles back as I ride

standing and flying

90 p.s.i.,
clean chain, new crank, silent ride.
Seagulls stand on ice.

why I cry

zephyr full of ice
sunlit bright hits my eyes at
twenty miles an hour

As ice

tape blocks helmet vents:
clear, shiny, brittle, as ice
forms bright in my beard

My Scalp at 20 Degrees

Drum skin tight, aching
ice, creaking, cracking, snapping;
melts in the shower