fading

memories
and smiles fade
in evening's light

as daytime's warmth
slips away
in the dark of night

whispered promises
shadows
fall from sight


4/16/1991

the leaves within my heart

i answered the wind

(calling me softly)

with a sigh of my own:

i have no more tears to give to the dead.

yet i linger still, unable to turn away.

the leaves within my heart are burning,

their smoke stings my eyes,

forming a cloud that blocks the sun.

the wind stirs again

brushing my cheek gently,

like you would do.

there were tears left after all.

i freely let them fall.

6/23/1991

quality of dreams

dreams have a quality
mysterious yet familiar,
like the scent of a perfume rarely worn.
does time move in dreams?

i study the sound of your breath
as you sleep beside me.
the gentle rise and fall of your breasts
reassures me that i am here

dreaming of warm embraces;
abstract images that rock my world
gently, gently.


      4/22/2011

becoming one

frozen

thought and motion become one
wind whips through the trees,
stings my face,
i turn away

frozen

time and energy become one
drifting snow obscures the land,
blots out the sun,
i turn away

frozen

life and death become one
the voice whispers hoarsely,
beckoning, cajoling,
i turn away

frozen.


4/13/1991

offers

i could not give you what i wanted,
nor from you receive what you would share.
my vision is not yours-
while i looked forward, 
you were farsighted and saw beyond my dreams
(even as i saw through yours.)

there is no snow in the woods today
but the naked trees still stand
and i among them, wondering,
what could i offer?
what would you receive?


4/10/1991

death koan

i hear the quiet,
the sound of one hand clapping.
i cannot hear you.

i am near the source,
dry flesh and bones drop away
to free the spirit.

below, the clouds pass by.
above, the heavens thunder.
i hear the quiet.


3/31/1991

haiku 33191

buds forming on twigs

gentle rains replacing snow

beginning or end?

3/31/1991

alone, in the forest

i heard the sound of one hand clapping.
alone in the forest,
a peal of thunder was lost amidst the crash
of trees falling in the onslaught of time
as a voice cried out, tentatively,
and the sound of one hand clapping
kept time with the rhythm of the wings
of the flights of fantasy:
man and mind,
nature and time.


2/4/1991

when we learned

we asked the older ones
for the path to harmony of heart, mind and soul.
at first they said we were too young,
that we must wait.
but finally they said we were ready
and they gave us music.

we did not all understand
but some flourished and took the gift with passion.
and with their music they were able
to touch the hearts, 
move the souls,
and inspire the minds of the many.


12/6/1990

the wooded wild

at the last light of day
i stood deep within the wooded wild
and faced myself,
my fears,
my dreams,
my mortality.

i suppose i did not so much prevail
as survive the encounter
but i noted a change in the wind,
carrying the leaves in a new direction.


10/29/1990

i thought

i thought i had a thought again

just the other day.

i tried to get it down in pen,

it tried to get away.

i worked it hard

throughout the night

until the words rang true,

but sadly then i realized

the thought was nothing new.

10/26/1990

your memories of me

the waves of sleep wash over me
and i drift away,
to run aground on the gentle shores
of a distant land
and a different day.

it is there that i find my memories,
in the land where i once found you,
on the sand by the sea
with the wind and the surf,
in a place known by only a few.

i left my songs and poems there,
by the shore of that gentle sea,
that you may one day find them
with your dreams
of you and me.


10/25/1990

Lu (the traveler)

i stood at the roadside wondering;
which way will lead to my future
and which was past?
there were no markers, no signs to aid me.
but the weather was fair
so, resolutely, i set forth.
not knowing where i was,
not knowing where i had been,
not knowing where i was going - 
i had complete freedom to move in any direction.
eventually i would arrive there
somewhere.


8/31/1990