Allegory

no matter
how long
it seems
it's only
hard for
a little while

Shaping

shaping disparate moments
into a mosaic
becoming a rendering
resembling the image
of its creator
absent of movement and
essence shattered into
fragments scattered symbols
of a design
awaiting congruity
in the hands
of a master

Poetics

word's breath
breathing phrases
dream-dancing
to allegories
in intervals
singing the music
of silence

Taconic Hills

Taconic Hills

a fleeting shadow
brushes a craggy hillside
as a shroud
clearing a way
in advance of
its wake on
an unimpeded passage
silent as a
mirage whose presence
might be imagined

a soul could die
here living on dry bones
and empty thoughts
riding on air drafting
through Oblong Valley draws

162.

it’s the space
between silence that
articulates breath

Fate

Fate

Summoned
to appear
I declined
to meet
with fate until
a later date
when I won’t
be late
and she
won’t have
to wait.

Nuance

when the questing soul
knows peace and the
heart is stilled in autumnal grace
the once silent voice
will rise and sing its song
from the core of its essence
resonating from the node
that is the center of nuance
vibrating at fingertip
sounding its song between strings
in the rustic grace
that is yours alone

To This Place

it is to
this place I
turn with hope
grounded in promise
and anticipation of
form born of
the seed of
vision beyond imagination
nurtured by faith
imbued in promise
sustained by what
cannot be seen
touched or imagined

Two

Life --
the whole
daft enterprise
subject to
the wiles
of chance --

who will care
for thee when
there is no
more of me

"Better"

"better"
is
the
last
word
uttered
by
a
dying
fool

Dickinson

her nuanced sounds
dance like diamonds
shimmering on moonlit
water glistening with
a thousand stars
shattering brilliance into
shards sparkling on
a rippling velvet
curtain drawn over
perpetual night

A Writer

a writer
is an
arse
upon which
every scribe
has sat
except a
soul

Threes

we know
what cannot
be told

that alone
is enough

each day
a new sensation
today
facing gray

what remains unanswered
is always why
not how
or when

Listen

to see
is to
know

to listen
is to
sense

the essence
of
silence

I Am

I am
as I came
a guest
not a ‘name’
an acolyte
not a master
a mystery
to many
a fool
to most
a gray
solitary
ghost

Miniature 244

we are linked
one within another
an endless loop
without beginning or
end a knot
entwined about itself

Miniatures 242 and 243

if purpose be divined
it is to gain
insight into shifting light
where paradox rotates
about a core but we
bound by fateful decree
merely sense what stirs
in our midst
a moment longer
than an interval
would permit
time to unfold
at fingertip



becoming
is
selecting

knowing
is
doing

being
is
believing

change
is
renewal

hope
is
faith

Miniatues 236 and 241

little worth
the need
to possess
so much




241.
be where
you can
hear birds
smell flowers
feel the
earth yield
to joy

Miniatures 215 and 221

215.

keep to
the simple
the line
is straight
if it curves
return the
way you came






221.

to see
is to
know

to listen
is to
sense

the essence
of silence

Miniature 235 and 204

235.

little to say
much to do

keep silent
move slowly

all flowing
from within





204.

where it begins
is unknown
where it ends
is beneath
our feet

Silent Presence

Silent Presence

wherever I look
I see your image

in the flower
at dusk embedded

clouds resting above
an orange horizon

when I listen
your voice speaks

in the wind
summoning me home






196,

we dream in fantasy
live in an enigma
die in memory
with what cannot
be forgotten

Hawk and Miniature 157

Hawk

tilt of wing
catching drafts
swinging into the
apogee of an arc
trailing his shadow
in graceful descent
to his perch
in a moment
lost to wonder
in motion


157.

to be alone
with the words
is to know
revelation without intent

to be at one
with the words
is to be complete
in solitude
and peace

Miniatures 116 and 135

116.

he slowly cuts
the curl of
a line emerging
as a profile

a silhouette of
the image before him
becoming a reflection
of a shadow







135.

when you go
I reach a
a bit longer
each time before
you fade into
the dream from
whence you came

Miniatures 86 and 99

86.

deepening into the
color of mist
I became the
gray of what
remained of
the day before





99.

one will be
none shall follow

not to be
again as once

it was
then gone

it remains always
one and alone

Pardonable Sins and Miniature 75

71.

Pardonable Sins

little purpose in
any of this
save for its
easy grace and
airless concern with
severe rectitude and
higher purpose
mock set-ups for
what comes later



75.

we break
and destroy
before we
build what
will endure
beyond the
allotted span
of frail
kind

learning hard
and slow
of how
much less
is no
more

At 70 and Miniature No. 40

At 70

equilibrium
has met its match
balancing chance
on the head of
an inverted obelisk
slinging a curve
against the pull
of deadly angularity




46.
was it
the same
last year

the birds
lingered then
lost their way

Miniatures 234. and 241.

one is enough
to last

two goes down
too fast





241.

be where
you can
hear birds
smell flowers
feel the
earth yield
to joy

232.

come
let us watch
light dance
on white caps
rippling ashore
and let all thought
be carried off
on currents of
tidal wash

230

eat
little
whisps

light is failing

a cold night comes
round your humble
nest

231.

what binds me
is a thread
fragile tensile
strong

Smile

smile
your
simile
's
showing

O
go on
ogle

Here To There

to divine
the notion
of ‘what’s
here’ place
a stone
over there
draw a
line from
here to
there and
begin again

Miniatures 227 and 228

227

The Rev.

quite to
his surprise
I was
almost his size
except for his
hat and shoes
and for these
he paid
his dues

228.

to divine
the notion
of ‘what’s
here’ place
a stone
over there
draw a
line from
here to
there and
begin again

Miniatures 25 and 26

25.

when you leave
I will smile
as you turn
away and go
while these words
sketch the outline
of where you were







26.
what’s
to
know
________
you
have
only
to
accept
_________
hoist
one
to
the
blind
tiller

Miniatures 37 and 25

37.

complexity has found
a place to hide
simplicity gambols in
the space between
shadows of a receding sun
and I have ceased to run
with the restless winds
of persistent change





25.

when you leave
I will smile
as you turn
away and go
while these words
sketch the outline
of where you were

Miniatures 94 and 48

94.

ev’ry sentence sings
when she speaks
the simplest sibilant
syllable in soft
murmurring sighs





48.

I make these signs
when you read them
they are no more

you have become
one with them
fading into the mist

Miniatures 110 and 97

110.
Hummingbirds

in they swoop
down they soar
hard to ignore

up and around
in dizzying loops
they roar

here then gone
off like a dart
they tore

only to return
with a buzz
once more





97.

I yield to
the whisk of
the wind
brushing my sleeve
in shifting shadow
closing into night

Miniatures 125 and 118

125.

Bruckner

no matter how
hard you try
to fly your
feet remain rooted
in the soil





118.

I rake
them into a
pile pulling them
into a row with the
other golden fragments
after one last fling on wing torn
from their loft by random winds to
rest in a cluster now accumulating
faster than I can make account
in my faltering gate bearing
the sum of temporal
ventures lost in the
close of another
season

Miniatures 142 and 135

142.

between
here and
there
a nowhere
is
found by
a
some one
where
one is
no more





135.

when you go
I reach a
a bit longer
each time before
you fade into
the dream from
whence you came

Miniatures 162 and 152

162.

it’s the space
between silence that
articulates breath






152.

though we cannot touch
we are as one
you in me
and I in you

Miniatures 198 and 168

all will be silent
when you see it

the end has begun
as you look

you will know
when it comes

it will embrace you
as one of its own



169.

what comes is
of inevitability

what remains is
of necessity

Miniatures 207 and 208

207

This Too Is Not Enough

we are
what was left
behind

live to be
not to
become

yet this too
is not
enough






208.

after they take
everything out
what is left
is what you
came without

Miniatures 211 and 212

211.

we move
the center
is still

we yield
the core
does not
turn




212.

time is
an empty
space
waitng for
an hour
to fill

Miniatures 225 and 226

225.

the more known
the less done

keep ignorance
your ally
innocence your guide



226.

Listen

to see
is to
know

to listen
is to
sense

the essence
of
silence