This morning I opened the front door to see something completely unexpected, a blossoming wild cherry tree. Since we moved in during the winter, we had no idea that the skeletal frame under which I often park my car was a cherry tree. It’s blossoms opened over night, turning its crown into a bright, puffy white cloud.
A Moment of Joy
through the open door
cherry-blossom raindrops
sprinkle my Geo white
suddenly countless concerns
are lost in a catch of breath
Sometimes after finishing a book, I like to commemorate the occasion with a small poem. The book was Zen Comments on the Mumonkan by Zenkei Shibayama. Some of what I found therein inspired unexpected insights.
After Reading the Mumonkan
just a single stroke
black paint presents a circle
the empty center
wider than the pacific
reveals and obstructs the way
Cherry blossoms are everywhere in Portland. They are just everywhere. It seemed they deserved at the very least a tanka.
Niveous Cherry Blossoms
white catkin branches
sway beneath the light gray sky
rain drips from rooftops
each wind-burst fills the air
with flurries of dancing petals
The night sky will always inspire poems from me. Here is a tanka to that ribbon of stars called the Milky Way.
moonless night
a ribbon of stars
churns across the speckled night
revealing the way
failing to follow this path
will fold our dust in magma
The desert is an endless source of poetic inspiration. Here is a tanka to the deserts of Southern Nevada and California.
desert song
Publication History:
Blackmail Press (web-based) — Spring 2006
There can be something disturbingly organic about the appearance of winter trees beneath moonlit clouds. Thought the imagery deserved a tanka.
winter trees
capillaries form
in the softly moonlit clouds
and weave together
merged into the fibrous veins
that reach deep beneath the earth
I have blogged this as a backlogged post. It is presently November 2, 2012. Having stumbled upon this as I go through my old poetry, it seemed worth having here.
moonbrush
delicate moon beams
silken sift though elder pines
flickering pallid
owl feathers dancing gentle
float through trembling canopy
Nature can never provide enough imagery for poetry. This particular expression of nature seemed to deserve a tanka.
twilight
a dismal expanse
trees fade into silhouette
life forgets to breathe
embraced by the fallen hush
an oak leaf lightly trembles
A tanka to the sunset. Probably inspired by the sunset as seen from the summit of Cow Mountain, just east of Ukiah, California.
sundown
far away dimming
lonesome sun melts quietly
on the horizon
birds fall into reverie
only a still breeze whispers
