Gurus: A Poem
I set out on a day-hike, and somehow wound up in the Valley of Suffering. Guess who I met there? You. The Ganges and Amazon have nothing…
The Watcher in the Dark
1 How long, I wonder, will this dull light Last? Every shadow extends, approaches, The sparrows take one brief flight - Then another – and drop to…
Frost on December 31st
As I walked to my car on December 31st in the darkened hours of day’s beginning, I noticed frost beginning to gather on my windshield— it’s creeping…
In Silence
We often know less than we think we know an opening comment on prayerful discernment She laughed at that and went on gabbing like a bird Perhaps…
Another Odyssey
Odysseus Mad Odysseus makes us row To certain death at double speed. How much further have we to go, Till into sea our lives last-bleed? War is…
Persephone’s Prayer
In Greek mythology, Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, rescues her daughter, Persephone, from eternal winter in Hades and restores her to the land of the living…
Luminous Darkness
This luminous darkness gently guiding, Past dim deluding lights that deform sight, In dancing stillness lies meaning, hiding, From the vapid visions of passing light. The silence…
The ‘Ask Not’ Poems – Zen Wisdom of the Tang Poet-Monk Qiji
One of the most prolific of the Tang dynasty Chinese poets is the Ch’an (Zen) monk Qiji (齊己), the author of over 850 poems, of a varied…
Behind the Wheel
1 There is no going back: the lights change At life, and there is one direction driven - Whatever detour, visit, we might arrange From that beginning,…
The Roof-Watcher
After the Agamemnon of Aeschylus Late afternoon of that unending year’s first day, I cringed at clangs, at god strikes tumbling mountaintops, Atremble for my distant lord’s…
Just Before Dawn
Here in my darkest hour, I lie grasped among the roots of damp and mossy oaks while overlooking black alfalfa fields, above which coming fogs will linger…
Running on the Beach With Rebecca
Bike tire treads, tributaries on sand Stamped with footprints, paw pads, the soles of shoes, Stream before us like kite strings with ribbons. Could we run these…
Critters in the Trench
Critters in the trench Instance man’s return To the state of nature. Strategists become Heirs to Hercules Ancient Romans prayed to. Iron General: Does, like any man,…