Ikebana
centered around the leaf
with worm holes

cracked
the antique china cup fills
a break in my lifeline

rented house
wishing my night gown
had all its buttons

autumn path
a stick talking to stone
the blind man's way

fears of deception

moonlighting
the thief employed
as security guard

petrified forest
you buy a souvenir
for your lover

your lies
as many sizes of the moon
I should believe?

heartless
the moon's bright body
attracts lovers

garlic toes
clinging to his voice
the salesman

prayers
our feet stuck in sands
whispering about us

casting doubts
clouds on the hills
on her face

used car salesman
a banana peel lies
three feet from his

after lies
seeing by moonlight
whose who is what

emptiness

cold crescent moon
sound of a boat leaving
with the departed

mother's death
the umbilical cord to earth
empty

empty
the vacation house watches
us drive by

her heat
even the ashes
not cool

without them
hanging on to things
of parents

seeing the old home
to fill the emptiness
chattering birds

a nest
found in autumn
the empty sky

empty afternoon
eyes and ears fill
with tears

as empty as
Sunday afternoon's envelope
your rejection is

filling the washer
with an empty heart
your blue shirts

autumn storms
locking emptiness
into summer cabins

tiredness
filling the emptiness
evenings

used tires
loaded on a truck
without wheels

sea fog
walking the valley
with empty hands

endings

crossing the road
shadow of a stop sign
stops

fears

shadows
of an upright stone
splashing waves

lifting a shadow
the gull frightened
by waves

grief

stone mountain
saying good-bye to him
was even harder
(For Charles B. Dickson)

jealousy

jealous lovers
at sea storm clouds
with purple waters

slender moon
so little fire
yet you go to him

tides
sorting beach debris
a jealous woman

leavings

leaving home
rain drops in my eyes
for clearer vision

grandkids leaving
the only smiles
on pictures they drew

leaving
the low tide beach
fills

facing one another
the chairs open and empty
as guests leave

weak fall sun
chairs by the café sit
on each other's lap

leaving
dust holds your footprints
and me

walking on rocks
where tears splashed down
dad's farewell

wind-filled rain
tears at the leaves
someone is going

guests gone
the only stars
in the sieve

guests gone
huckleberries ripen
in the silence

noodle soup
memories of your visit
in the left-overs

kissing good-bye
she feels the edge
of his pocket

leaving Germany
raindrops in my eyes
tears

lingering summer thoughts

autumn's summer heat
on a white paper you drew
a smiling sun

loneliness

to sleep alone
in the light of the moon
madness

loneliness
crossing the great plains
high tension wires

a lonely day
yet in the afternoon
a breeze comes by

alone
in the desert
wind

on the porch
mold-speckled pine needles
my waiting for you

a son's call
white waves of long distance
returning to shore

kids gone
sea waves return to shore
each alone

foggy Saturday night
a woman's whiskey-raw voice
pours from a radio

singing low
sea-white fog disappears
beneath the pines

divorced parents
the cries of the neighbor kids
deep in the woods

the waitress' tip
lying in spilled beer
small brown coins

longing

dreams
burning desire
burning

burning pine
smoke blown about
my longing

deer at the salt lick
so my memories of us
will you return too?

loss

fireplace sunshine
dark in the burned-out cabin
weeds

too late
lovers looking in windows
of closed shops

touching your left sleeve
at this moment of parting
how cold is your coat

watercolor class
a blue sky pinned to the wall
falls

a deaf child
in autumn hearing
the sleep of seeds

lost
in hidden valley
the trail

on the gramophone
a church in Holland
where you are tonight

passing time

early morning sun
on the face of the clock
time change

time was
my eyes in the empty place
where the clock isn't

golden clock hands
sunshine slants through leaves
passing time

past life experiences

moon dreams
a spotlight turns on
past lives

fingernails
windows to the past
lives

white waves returning
to shore their call
for me to come home

regrets

low-tide walk
now deep at sea
my path

at the waterfalls
a woman remembering
a love affair

at least the moon
when it's full
comes to my porch

ribbon knots
tighten a lump in the throat
as it was that night...

heavy heart
such a color evenings
weighs nothing

rest

taking a rest
I let the city noises
leak out of my ears

sadness

pillar of sorrow
the hours alone
touching it

deep sighing
waves climb the beach
and disappear

earth turns
shadows on a face
fade and reappear

stepping stones
go wobbly and uneven
tears falling

autumn sadness
yet before the leaf falls
the swelling bud

eyelash splash
curve in the folding
a wave of tears

the cutting edge
your words where the moon
touches night

yet another pine
is the moon ever free
of the earth?

unknown

spirit of a place
a film
on the photograph

breathing heavily
atop the mountain gorge
a thick cloud

knuckles of night
cold without human flesh
tap along the roof

forces
holding rocks together
apart

mountain top
aglow with the unseen
moon

walking paths
the land fluid
without feet

after death
naming the unknown
heaven/earth

voices
familiar things
without shadow

doors
swinging pendulums
between outsiders

moon shadows
coming up the stairs
a creaking sound

between two birds
in bright shapes
a real name

flagstones
then the border blew away
in colored silk

surf sounds
someone was walking
on trackless sand

bad dreams
the shapes of dinner
eaten late

night bumps
all around the house
other things

spindrift veils
above the crashing waves
finer ones

without wind
a door opens
the candle goes out

a stand of trees
in a setting of weeds
someone kneeling

standing ajar
for the passage of souls
a door in October

incense
smoke in the wind chimes
faint tones of blue

bones
hearing sea winds of the dead
in flute tones

secret mists
on the broad river
lost shadows

lost shadows
on the dark river
time curves

a creaking floor
the moonlight goes
from room to room

moon path
on the water where I walk
a bridge to ...

sunset
the shadow steps back
into your heel

two foreign stamps
found in a dream book
borrowed

walking on the mountain
without a step
going inside of it

still alive
in knotty pine walls
dragon eyes

without words
angels' voices return
songs

giant forest
moving between trees
a deeper darkness

giant forest
walking the dark road
night trees

at the pass
a bright neon-blue bush
the future

the unseen

mineral waters
perfume the skin
a bright soul

lizard
in the slits of his eyes
my soul window

beach wind
taking off her prayer cap
unseen temple

worries

many night thoughts
the big dipper tilts
spilling over

Continue to AUTUMN Occasions.