— for Brother Ron Fender No tailor’s artistrycould equal the eleganceof my cat’s stripesas he walks into the bathroomwhere I’m taking a shit. Purring, he rubsagainst my legs.He accepts me on anyterms, comes closehowever I smell,loves me without illusion. He makes me ashamedof my own cowardice,of the times I have flinched,repulsed by the stenchof human […]
Dogo
Snow haiku
snow falling on night of plaguebuilding snowman onhousing scheme football pitch Support Our Dharma Work
The Speed of Light
She is getting in bed when she realises she is outof the half-and-half she takes in her morning coffee.He is still dressed. He tells her he’ll walk to the marketand get some for her. The market is two blocks from their apartment.As he walks, he looks up and sees starsthat have not existed since before […]
Maybe a Strange Thing
Maybe a strange thing — a college townat the wrong time of year — the students are gonebut you’re still around,wandering through bookshops,empty art galleries — tired, sick of it,in a quiet cafe youlose your temper, get upand walk out,leaving yourself sitting over coffee. Support Our Dharma Work
Six Haiku
zazen on verandatower block hermitagesirens and birdsong moving walkway at supermarketteenage couplekissing through smiles supermarket cafewoman sits talkingto herself grey windchasing brown leaveson broken path chill autumn evening —the t-shirt I pull onis warm from the dryer city centreman jaywalkssucking on vape pen Support Our Dharma Work
Butterflies and Other People
For two years, I lived on the edge of woods, on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, between a sewage plant, an American Indian burial ground, and the state mental hospital. Outside my house I saw a butterfly, the most radiant being I had ever seen — blue and black and ivory, incandescent. A friend later […]
In a Glasgow Street
two seagulls peck at dead pigeontwo pigeons stand watching Support Our Dharma Work
Cause and Effect
Scottish physicists declarethat the universe may stop expandingand implode instead English physicists declarethat neutrinos suggestthat effect could precede cause An American woman danceswith joy in a kitchen,laughing and singing, while a Scottish man melts butterin a skillet, breaks eggs,drops them in the butter, adds pepper and salt,flips the eggs with a spatula,adds more salt, more […]