Navajo sandstone
face of a rock
weeping

emerald pools
in Navajo sandstone
Indian red

Navajo sandstone
fissures opening
to heaven

painted
on Indian cave walls
lizard eyes

prayer flags

At Odiyan

prayer flags
ground shadows
in weird shapes

prayer flags
tinkling
bells

vehicles to heaven
pray flags surround
the used car lot

lighting candles

remembering mom
the same old fire
in an altar candle

an altar candle
lit for your soul journey
warms my hands

pumpkin pie

pumpkin pies
remembering with a grin
the Jack-o-lantern

pumpkins/jack o'lanterns

light
from the pumpkin's grin
a full moon

moonrise
wind blows out the light
in the pumpkin

carved pumpkin
admiring our art the moon
comes on the porch

enlightened
the jack-o-lantern
has a fat candle

alone
going to sleep with a grin
on the pumpkin

all the light
inside of a pumpkin
this dark night

light leaking
the grin of pumpkins
growing moldy

together
lifting the pumpkin
the curved stem

night dark
inside the pumpkin
its warm glow

scary Halloween
the candle in the pumpkin
goes out

watching our bed
the pumpkin's lid
smokes

bedside candle
putting it in
the pumpkin

shadows moving
on the bedroom wall
a pumpkin's grin

unable to sleep
the Jack-o-lantern watches
us all night

grandpa
gives the Jack-o-lantern
his snag-toothed grin

school

kite string
tightly rolled
first day of school

just moved
the chill of giggles
in the school yard

backpack of books
the schoolboy becomes
a deformed monster

first day of school
her bare foot tracks
still on the beach

mid-September
she writes her name for Daddy
in the sand

where we shook hands
in front of our old school
a dark bruise

after all these years
the high school band
still practices

still an old maid
the high school Latin teacher
on a sentimental journey

first day of school
on the mountain ridge
clouds without thunder

voices along the road
after the school bus goes by
only birds

river so low
all the polliwogs gone
school begins

beach afternoon
school girls drinking
from a paper bag

souls

sea horizons
the soul stretched
into bands of blue

in the headlights
thud of a dark body
a soul rushes by

Thanksgiving

colorful Indian corn
for Thanksgiving dinner
relatives from afar

Thanksgiving Day
an old couple on the pier
fishing

cold turkey
in bed on Thanksgiving
with the sniffles

Thanksgiving Day
seeing an old neighbor
after her surgery

thanks giving
the first cup of water
tipped to the earth

Thanksgiving Day
after the storm
beachcombing

Thanksgiving Day
grapes on an heirloom plate
half-eaten

desert Thanksgiving
cold turkey sandwiches
under the one tree

blood relatives
for Thanksgiving dinner
red beets

trick or treating

trick or treating
with kids only the moon
older than I

without a soul
faces grin in the dark
on Halloween

no one home
yet a face grins on the porch
Halloween

going into dark times
children dressed as grown-ups
begging

worship

from India
the strange white bird
in a yoga position

banner of belief
lace at the edges
crumbling

granite altar
water not wine
wind flowing

ancient shrine
just a roof
upon the path

chapel
hidden on the ceiling
pagan symbols

cloister walls
shutting in
the outer world

holy mountain
among the Bishop pines
bluebirds

late to church
daylight saving
unholy times

back home
covered with dust
magic sparkles

witches

before the coven
how the witches park
their cars

new age witch
in her Honda
a whiskbroom

magic symbols
drawn with blood
this holy space

eggshells ashbone
white of the moon
in a witch's spell

a little spilled wine
ageless women in the circle
of a full moon

wreath

falling from the wreath
frost
flowers

a wave curls
tumbling over a wreath
buried at sea

Veterans' Day

the Vietnam Vet
in his eyes
my debt

Continue to AUTUMN Celestial.