Posted in Uncategorized, tagged losing the self, poem, poetry, tanka on August 26, 2013| 3 Comments »
for years
I have tried to lock
you out
not seeing that instead
I locked myself in
*
mom, he says,
do you ever think how great
it would be
to become water
going everywhere
*
standing
in the sunflowers
my whole body
practices
being sunflower
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged guilt, mulberry, pleasure, poem, poetry, tanka on June 22, 2013| 1 Comment »
purple handed
after mulberry picking—
imagine if
all pleasures
came with stain
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged loss of self, love, poem, poetry, tanka on June 10, 2013| 2 Comments »
which
is
which
my hand
your heart
*
last year’s snow
rushes through
the valley—
some lonelinesses
can not be quenched
*
what is
the one
that notices
the one who thinks
she feels lonely?
*
in my pages
rubbing an arnica leaf
out of the blank
appears
a heart of graphite
*
in a red wagon
the old man
pulls to the grave
his mother
her ashes
*
I refuse
to see it
as a problem
loving
you
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged learning, poem, poetry, tanka, unlearning on May 18, 2013| 4 Comments »
reading in my journal
the lesson I learned two years
ago the same lesson
I was so thrilled
to learn today
*
I leave the dishes
when you say “let’s play,”
not because I want
to play but because the day
will come when you won’t ask
*
the veil
of hurt, though it
weighs nothing
I am utterly unable
to lift it
*
sowing poppy seeds
in the meadow together,
though it will be months
before we see stems
already I feel blossoming
*
what would be left
if we solved all our troubles—
just a breathing
sometimes when I get very still
I am still not still enough
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged perspective, poem, poetry, seeing, tanka on May 11, 2013| 4 Comments »
Did you notice,
I say, the gorilla’s nose
is shaped like a heart?
Yes, she says, but my heart
is shaped like a fist.
*
Easy to see
I’m a wave in the water—
when I disappear
nothing essential
will be lost.
*
Harder to believe
nothing’s lost when my daughter
pulls the needle
out of my knitting
and the stitches fall off.
*
Ever notice
how hard it is to see eye
to eye when our
backs are toward
each other?
*
Solar eclipse
in Taurus and the window
between worlds opens—
eyes wide, advises my chart,
it’s a new day for your heart
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged memory, poem, tanka on April 25, 2013| 2 Comments »
soft and wrinkled
creases ripped, markings faded
though I know it by heart
I unfold it again
this memory of you
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged chance, haiku, in love with life, luck, poem, tanka on February 20, 2013| 6 Comments »
my whole life
preparing me for this moment—
10:19 p.m.
*
rolling down my window
to ask directions, hearing
a chorus of birds
*
new snow on the grass
this, too, the scent
of exploded stars
*
please, I said
to the sun, don’t go
some part of me
reveling in asking
the impossible
*
my whole life
preparing me for this moment—
10:20 p.m.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged haiku, moon, morning, nightmare, short poem, tanka on February 19, 2013| 5 Comments »
mama! she shrieks
I throw back the sheets, leap
run naked through night
but can’t make it into her dream
the place she needs me most
*
whatever the moon
says, that is what I
say, too
*
rushing out
to smell the morning
before its gone
there will be other mornings
but only one like this
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged disappearing, haiku, losing the self, poem, poetry, tanka on February 12, 2013| 4 Comments »
mostly fallen down
the barbed wire fence—
what’s it to the birds?
*
listening
for the moon—
sound of a heart
*
that hyacinth leaf—
staring at it until it is
no longer leaf
*
in the window
the boy waves at himself
saying he won’t stop
until the other boy
stops waving
*
poet, can you rhyme
with the cherry tree
in spring
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged love, snow, tanka on February 9, 2013| 6 Comments »
softly snowing
while all the stars are out
let’s love like that—
everyone will say it’s not possible
but we know
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged freedom, personal responsibility, poem, prison, tanka on February 6, 2013| 3 Comments »
for years
thinking you were my jailer
these unyielding bars
today finding the key
in my own pocket
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged jealousy, musta sukainen, poem, tanka on December 12, 2012| 3 Comments »
now threadbare
those black socks
of jealousy
and still every morning
she pulls them on
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bliss, haiku, poem, tanka on December 2, 2012| 2 Comments »
bliss stands
in the center of the field
sticking out her tongue
laughing her head off
that I can’t see her
*
scent of quince—
how many other great pleasures
I never considered
*
dry river bed
not one rock
out of place
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged love, nature, poem, tanka on October 20, 2012| 4 Comments »
which is worse
to walk the aspen
knowing they will die
or to not walk
the aspen?
*
on the table
the shadow of smoke
from the candle
how many other ghosts
do I not see in this room?
*
which is better
loving you although
it hurts, or
well, there are, it seems
no other options
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged god, holding on, poem, poetry, possibility, tanka on October 19, 2012| 2 Comments »
strange, even after
the door disappeared, jamb, too
I still stand
in the middle of openness
hands clasped around a knob
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged god, love, poem, poetry, release, surrender, tanka on October 14, 2012| 2 Comments »
empty the trees
and thousands of lily bulbs
not yet bloomed—
in my heart
still spring
*
floating into the pond
the cottonwood leaves—
each one a boat
I would ride in
with you
*
for some things
it is too late, some nests
will never be built—
every hummingbird
is gone
*
I have wanted
to love you perfectly
petal after petal—
now I just want
to love you
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autumn, loss, love, poem, poetry, present moment, tanka on October 1, 2012| 1 Comment »
just before they are gone,
I treasure them most,
the aspen leaves—
please let us not
love like that
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autumn, leaf, poem, praise, tanka on September 28, 2012| 3 Comments »
not that I don’t
admire the universe,
but today it’s enough
to marvel at just this one
leaf
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged friendship, poem, tanka, unity on September 25, 2012| 2 Comments »
aslant
the freezing rain
turns sleet—
on the trail
laughter our boat
*
speaking
all my secrets
to the pebbles—
the gray spider
eavesdrops
*
once pulled
from the stem the petal
will never again stick—
in my hand
bare sunlight