the first plums
just enough sweetness
for now
Tag: poem (Page 1 of 2)
Watch out for that first step
At the Zen group, after sitting for half an hour, we took turns reading from Charlotte Joko Beck’s Everyday Zen. The key question in the selection we read, on what the practice is: What can you rely on?… Read the rest
office plant
even the pebbles are plastic… Read the rest
I have traveled across the midriff of america in semidarkness
the windows closed so I cannot see
what waters stretch out before us or what cities alongside us
the darkness and smells of sleep surround me
and my companions rest their arms against my arms, thin
layers of fabric all that keep our skin from touching
as we speed through the sky in this act of levitation
and combustion
I read that the cloud industry now
contributes as much carbon dioxide
to the atmosphere as all of aviation
and I’m left wondering how it is
that even thoughts can cause tropical storms
even clouds make fire and smoke
these words depend on the cold rushing-forth of captured waters
where fish no longer swim upstream
on this plane we are all staring
at the same tiny animated visions but if I lift my eyes
this room is full of human bodies
the backs of their heads
are turned towards me, the other sides entrained
by a song and dance number illustrating
what to do in an emergency
well I think we have an emergency now
we are all deranged by loneliness
and cannot tear our eyes away
while the screens keep telling us
just a little bit further now
and you’ll be there
and all the while
there
isn’t
coming… Read the rest
The setting sun fills the darkening blue-purple sky with pink and orange streaks, vivid enough to catch my attention through the kitchen window. I step out onto the deck and the cool air on my face reminds me: It’s all still here.… Read the rest
in the train window
a flock of black birds
against the indigo sky
and like ghost birds
the reflections of streetlights… Read the rest