Crow washing face in lake
dipping in, shaking
dipping in, shaking
flapping wings

I would join him
but bundled up
this cold and sunny
NewYear's Day

Crow doesn't mind
cold or rain
won't trade places with me
for even a moment this day
Crow prefers being crow
washing face in lake

Short Take

Crow washing face in lake
me cold nearby
New Year's Day 2013

Solstice 2008

snow ice clear white
short day long night
day sun ice melt
night freeze re-ice
shoes crunch snow
feet slide ice
hope bright sun melt
soon come rain clean
children warm play sleigh
grandpa watch
      in cold feet

Listening to Sarabande from Bach's 2nd Cello Suite

Casals growling strings
green cypress branches windblown
      outside kitchen window
1936 recording reaches me in 21st century
from Abbey Road London to Stroud Avenue
       Seattle
gray December afternoon
       peaceful

Denial

Climbing out of the pool
had no clue
another ten laps
to prove I am invincible
     in old age
and then my heart betrayed me
     in the shower
clenched my chest
twisted my arm.
Don't listen
It's not so bad
my lunch is coming up
acid reflux
over swam.
Heart attack say the medics
Heart attack says the intake doctor
Heart attack says the surgeon.
Cannot be says I
I am in shape invincibly.
Now six pills a day
and slow to walk
and slow to swim
to face the betrayal
     of my artery.
This wasn't supposed to happen to me.

Windows of my Childhood

Windows of my childhood
had women leaning out
    arms crossed
patiently waiting
for gossip to appear
and be passed on.
Windows of my childhood
had eyes looking out
    watching me
waiting for some mischief
    to report.
Windows of my childhood
recorded the lives
    below
through the eyes
    of beholders
judging people's progress
    beneath them.
Windows of my childhood
    bore flags
with silver or gold stars
    bearing witness
    to missing or dead
    sons or husbands.
Windows of my childhood
    bore witness
    to lives within
       and without.

Mirrors

The mirrors on the walls
     of the yoga class
facing each other
repeat themselves into
     infinity
and the old man sees himself
     quintuplicated
     and old-looking
He moves to a far wall
where he does not face
     the mirrors,
     the old man,
     the wall clock
so he can stretch out
feeling young inside himself
     and timeless

Cabin Fever

frozen snow falls
like crystal dust
tree limbs cracking
ground crushed underfoot
but crows fly
perch on cedar branches

oh for the feathers of a crow
to fly through a blizzard

mind awake/mind asleep

snow falling
faucet leaks to fix
poems to pages
calling friends
things to do
keep me present
while mind wants
    to slip away
except at bedtime
when it stays awake

Solstice

At the solstice
Bikinis in Brazil
Snow Shovels in Wales
Foggy rain in Seattle
There's no center of the universe
We are all scattered together

Told Her A Thing Or Two

Well wasn't he born
out of wedlock?

Out of, in of, what does it matter?
He was born
Hallelujah
and he don't regret it.
Why should you?

Well, I'm just saying...

Well don't be just saying.
God said go forth and multiply
and didn't specify
     exactly how
in the beginning
and even allowed Lot's daughters
to do it with their daddy
     in a cave
so's they could go forth and multiply
and then there's whole pages of begats
from those two girls
and God said nary a work about that
so why should you.

Reading Murakami's "After Dark" while under the influence of morphine

waitng   waiting
for the morphine to override
      pain
in my penis, my bladder
piss dripping down the catheter tube

Murakami's sleeping Eri
wandering sister Mari
TV sets blurring the story
my eyes slip downwards
      close and enter TV
snap awake searching the page
      for lost words
           lost sisters
book slipping away
my dope enduced fantasy
blending with Eri Mari
Murakami's words fuzzing
      into my dream
book slipping to the floor
head jerking awake
eyes closing into dream
      bye bye Eri
      bye bye pain

red suede boots

in red suede boots
she strides laughing
tosses her hair
music in her ears
talking with her thumbs
but does not see
     the trees around her
     the leaves beneath
     the long-haired youth
         eyeing her from across the street

Alzheimer Fantasy

When my memory fails
I will be like Richard
who reads and reads
but doesn't remember what he reads
      but keeps reading
and we will meet in another dimension
and not remember each other
      but carry books
and we will read to each other.

"What are you reading," he will ask.
"I don't know. What are you reading?"
"What you are reading."
"So it's the same?"
"I don't know.  What is it?"

So we will go on
happily not knowing
what the other doesn't know.

Just before day breaks
when it's still dark
finally you melt into
     a warm sleep

toilet flushes
rain on the roof
someone saying
better wake him up
it's almost time to go.

What About Afterlife?

Surprise me.
It'll be easy.
I'm not expecting anything.

Wow!  I never expected this!
I'm speechless.
About time, you say?
Oh, I get it.
That's the surprise. 
I don't get to say anything
          forever.
Yeh, that'd be hell for a poet.