32 Haiku

Things come together contrary to what the old bespectacled Irishman in the tower said
And the center finish that sentence does not hold still it moves
Thirty two years we've been bringing this third person called Us into consciousness
Now no doorbells only a brass lion holding a ring in his teeth daring
The wind speaks about this by pushing against leaves which spring back or fall
I've noticed your belovéd pond is burgeoning with hyacinth dangling their roots on the backs of koi
White tile carpeted hard perimeters tamed with curves always the feminine
A flash of teeth and uncontrollable laughter as I fall backwards the clown
When was that day you squinted and brought the world out of your ear
The old Hawaiian crow is no more so we dream with drums in our noses
Toad after toad leaps closer to me with his wide-mouthed secret
Buckets filled with three weeks' worth of rain sprout with shefflera grasses and impatiens
Red I think red followed you here all the flag-wounds with their feet in the ground
Tricks of the eye turn out to be older magic a giant blue agavé bursts into flame
Ghosts of horses graze in the woods nearby you look up at the sound of their harness
I will never forget the time you cast the dead flowers into the fire with a prayer
There's a heron just west of here who disappeared after the earthquake. He's back
I didn't know till I met you that every living thing flowers eventually
Cloud collecting one day wave singing the next it's all one you say
Your passport says water on every page birthplace address and expiration
Walking out of Suzuki's class one day you took a plane to India and opened your eyes
Like I said flat won't do only bumps rises slopes mounds islands
Leaping out of bed from the cliff over the foothills you freshen the stargazers' water
Dark preferably creamy eventually scoops of night in a white bowl
See what I mean you there hunched over the spinning table pushing into emptiness
An embrace lost in itself a knot with two free ends each seeking the other
Once I saw turquoise black-veined move through the room a flash of red coral
Rivers in Nepal take opals back when you're not looking
The belly oh what did he know about the center the white-haired senator
The archer comes in as a pantomime horse and let's three arrows fly
The cave the wood the road the edge long strokes to reach the ocean
Somebody has to write this down before sunset where I will meet you

Unkempt Dreams

What other kinds are there
there in the dark cinema
of the restless sleeper
stitching time together
to cover naked truth

once creatures of the night
prone to falling out of tree
now the big house in town
sets all the people in lines
facing the flickering lights

dreams mastered and orderly
with names like Rosalee
Goes Shopping or I Am
or Ace Ventura or Thrive
Give me the cliff hangers
of my own youth

the crumpled heaps of imagery
the clouds of memory between
parked cars out on the ocean
or in shadows of hedgerows
at the old farm places names

the man with a drip
on the end of his nose
the rooster who played
the violin the piano
I fell into till I learned
three chords and vibrated
all the next day

untidy dreams wild
and scattered like birdseed

dreams that burble up
in conversation the heartburn
season without rain
calling out with a start
in the dark give me back
night even now at noon

Day Two

Never mind the penultimate
ultimate and finally the first day
our chance to start over think things
through and through until a pattern
emerges in the stream bed yes yes
familiar but oh a surprise that curve
that line the contrast seeing chance
vibrating our plans our precious grid
glowing brightly like that visit to your
house how unexpected the Russian River
pinot translucent a board game kinship
more in evidence if that's what's needed
there in the numbers of course events

like the departure of the bees the burning
of their hive in a kind of rare for me
finality my desire to be no part in their
further demise feeding the blaze

or more quietly the trees planted ohia
clove and madré de cacao olive
lignum vitae pepper tree and avocado
but no blooms truly ever give us wonder
more than those flowers arising from our own roots
trunks branches leaves buds we look at our hands
we touch theirs meeting their wide-eyed gazes
watching them crawl or reach
talk sing cry laugh our little Buddhas
like Jack says coming to teach
us to set aside the wise-ass
know-it-all arrogance and egotism
speaking for myself...to see the world anew

therefore never mind the hundred thousand ways
we ward off evil spirits at the turn of the year
or the way the clocks and calendars
box us in of course they have their uses
but let's set aside the hollow blue egg
the laughing thrush long-fled
let's note the weight
of the purple water lily bud
as it sinks between the flashing koi
and too the smoke rising over the fence
the haze of aftermath with a ship
moving across the sky the one given
back by the land after the long rains

how the scent of jasmine rises
how the sun seeks us out with its
four questions and 12 point plan
it's the second day that counts
the day of year that sets pace and tone
between celebrations the sublime space
between two friends two lovers
thumb and forefinger
calf of one leg resting on knee of another
pen approaching or leaving page
key entering entering
year turning and turning
like the potter's smile
like the flame pulling the air
from the kiln