patch of grass
my dog likes to water
on the greenbelt
no box to leave an offering
no bell to ring
i don’t bow or clap my hands
still,
the kami bends an ear
new year’s morning
Tag: new year
hourglass figure (20161230)
let the year slip by
let the hourglass
run out of sand
and for god’s sake
no one turn it over
Poem 20151231
signs and portents on
viewing an owl in flight
and stationary in a tree
and again in flight
on the last night of the year
the owl, athena’s friend
and harbinger of eternal night,
paused in her flight long enough
for us to view her in a tree
tawny and silent she watched us
and allowed us to approach her tree
while holding her in the beam
of a flashlight
and then she flew again
wings silent
all we could hear were the sounds
of nearby freeway traffic
so much like unceasing waves
the day before we had seen
five hawks
sentinels on lamp posts
lining the road during a drive
and counted ourselves lucky
–a five-hawk day
but what does this night predator
so beautiful and silent
caught for a moment in her flight
in the white artificial light
in my hand
portend for the year ahead?
Poem 20151230
it waits
not in a place
like a monster you can
dispel with a flip
of the light switch
it doesn’t lurk
in the closet or under the bed
though you can feel it waiting
waiting all around you
that clicking
ticking
of the clock
reminding you that
the year is spent
like your birthday money
that you blew on
a record that you wanted
for just one song
and a magic trick
that was interesting
exactly once
Words and Feathers 