Discarded Snapshots

Something's there.
I see grass twitch
In a green ditch
And know where--
What, a mouse, vole?--
Some part of
Sequence by snake,
Cat, followed:
Taken whole by
Art and order,
Expense swallowed,
Left in such places,
Dead; there are
Faces I wish I
Had not read.

Mantis Religiosa

[Norma Photo]


What takes us--
It might be peeled
Paint or sunlight
On some small moment--
Where past went?
It might be anything
At all, a mantis walking
Up a wall, an appetite
With legs slowly
Opening the future.
What seems direct,
Secure --good posture
For an insect--
Is simply life layered
Over hunger, the older,
Younger record of
All life here.
I believe
I'll get a beer.

Remembering Them

Far over
Roses
Ghosts
Embrace and
Fill
The sky.

Doghouse Zazengine

[Norma Photo]


I'm glad she took this
Picture in our driveway.
When somebody says,
"After all, how long
Can you go on about
Flowers and drive
An old VW?"
My silence is usually
Taken as agreement
But I'm really trying
To subtract the late
'60s from the current
Year in my head.

Emergency Wardrobe Apology

[Candid photo by Norma]


Condemned or blessed to
Work seasons without
Rest, I stop where night
Wind worried blooms and
Branches down a drop
Against the ha-ha, and
See what awful thing
Departing winter worked
On nascent spring --
Ripped table umbrella,
Blasted trellis.
But before accounting
What else is in
Distress, I take my
Night-thrashed self
Inside and decide
How it should dress.