poetry

They are cutting down the pine tree on the corner. It was maybe 80’ tall and almost three feet in diameter, perfectly healthy, an old tree full of years. And now it’s mostly wood chips. Today, for the first time in weeks, the sky is blue, and there is more of it than before. I […]

the first plums just enough sweetness for now

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? Joko Beck’s answer: You can rely on life to continue being […]

The dogs have fleas. The cat keeps pooping on the kitchen floor. The house is of course a mess, and my daughter is graduating from high school tomorrow — assuming she got rid of that F in English.  Meanwhile, my wife is recovering from her 2nd eye surgery in a month, after two months of […]

The world constantly reminds us that nothing is permanent. Nothing escapes destruction. wisteria in bloom :: what the old stones don’t tell

breakfast the bowl holds five yolks from three eggs :: suddenly thinking about the lives of the chickens

backyard afternoon :: a boy’s dreams take flight (Photo: San Mateo, March 2015)

evening walk I get mugged by the moon

touching the Earth ::savoring each sliceof the tangerine (with a 🙏to Thich Nhat Hanh) (photo by Michael Dorausch michaeldorausch.com)

office plant even the pebbles are plastic

ripening persimmons :: a pink sky and the waning moon

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