Working the booth at a state park - slow time of the year.


june 15

and in the end?
dog tracks in the
backyard snow

*

your body is wilderness
always new
always a surprise

*

as he
pours the tea -
silence

*

talking softly
the old women
nod and smile
coffee cools
cigarettes grow cold

*

meeting Buddha
I tried to kill him -
uphill for miles

*

fingering the beads
again
and again

*

she had always
thought deer were such
peaceful animals
until the day one stomped
her old cat to death

*

beside the road
too tall for coyote
a wolf
watches traffic
trots off to the woods


june 16

on the door frame
a cecropia fans -
the childrens' eyes

*

this lichen
this rock
older than i am

*

harbor bell
hidden
in the cold fog

*

the deaf camper
smiles and waves -
thumbs up

*

duty?
remember Issa's
"and yet"



june 17


light wind off the lake
smokey moon my only friend
this autumn night
old teetotaler won't drink
so i finish the bottle for him

*

hard to tell
which is worse
flies or geese

*

his son's frisbee
knocks his beer over
he tosses it back

*

knee deep in the lake
he raises his leg
brushes off a leech


june 19 - Vertin Studio

morning beer
ice cold

old dachshund
looks hopeful

from the porch
we watch grackles

he laps
i sip

grackles chatter
and shit


*

talking to Andi
at the bar

later John tells me
"she's a whore"

I smile

"better a whore
that listens
than a friend
who doesn't"