Pray In That Direction

Pray in that direction

Pray to get there too—

The devil never sleeps so

The angels sing the sweetest blues

Save yourself from crying

Make your life anew—

You’re standing on the brink so

Consider everything and choose

It’s time for love and laughter

It’s time to break on through—

What’s tender shows its glow so

Keep rolling with the flow so true

We’re babes in a thick forest

We’re flames upon the moon—

This arrow’s good to go so

Let’s shoot this baby through the roof

.

19 Haiku

Lone seagull cawing

in the blue above green pines—

Please! Please! Don’t leave me!

Bicycling to work—

low growl of breath, and fog damp

on a grinning face

The sputtering flight

of a sparrow in the rain—

sparkling umbrellas

*

Crow on the roof of

a government monolith,

rasping his complaint

This face staring back

at me from my coffee cup—

I resist judgement

Three quiet birds stand

on three thin telephone wires—

grey backdrop sky

*

Staggering mammoth

on the train station platform—

couple embracing

This celebration!

Bright explosions in the streets!

I hide in my house.

In the misty fog,

shrilling his proclamation—

crow on a trash bin

*

Climbing concrete hills

I am my raincoat’s hanger

in a sweaty mist

Dressing before work

I trace each tooth with my tongue

and then tie my shoes

A lone morning dove

cooing in the sleepy fog

on a long black wire

*

Metal tunnel drone

of an aircraft overhead—

then a chilled stillness

Cloud baby waving

from his fleecy bassinet—

enjoying the ride

Purple mask laughing

in the curl of a cloudpuff—

now a grouchy priest!

*

Sparkling golden leaves

crown wind-rustled cottonwoods

on the river bank

Yoga at sunrise—

just noticing a noble

face in the tree’s bark

Window to dark woods

shows a sudden fluttering—

just a passing bat

*

Rattling cicadas—

summer music makes me breathe

slowly, like a cloud

.

10 Haiku

There’s nothing to do

and so the cat does nothing—

asleep in the sun

Lying sick in bed

listening to the far-off

hiss of wind and cars

“Chiseled dagger” moon—

remembering poetry

beneath it at dusk

*

Contorting her face

on the train so she can tweeze

stray hairs from her chin

In the blue above

a squat government building

the faint frowning moon

Chitter of dry leaves

on the sun-bleached sidewalk

in a swirl of wind

*

Tock-tocking windchime

in a blowing Spring garden—

cat huddles with me

Lunching on the street—

skinny pigeon at my feet

stabbing at the crumbs

Under foggy skies

lattices of power lines

and pink plumb blossoms

*

Rescued from brooding

by five twitting hummingbirds

feasting in a tree



.

Flashes 31

“Everyone’s trying

to get to first base

and there is none.”

—a San Francisco bus driver, during evening rush hour

A muscle in my mind

just flexed—

and everything is level

The sky

provides

the spectacle

*

Don’t pretend

that you know

their remedy

We set everything

to the climate

of our being

Eyes

that want

to see everything

*

A joy

beyond

philosophy

Your intentions

are merely catalysts

for your destiny

Each

to his own

muddied lake

*

At home

alone

feeling my life again

It happens like this:

a surge of vitality

followed by a cold

Something deeper going on

that I don’t yet

understand

*

Her smile

made him feel

good all day

Hope

without

objective

To

be

imperturbable

.