For Johnny Tonight, in this crowded cafe the windows weep from the dark cold outside. Our dinners half-eaten but the wine still flows. It’s just another day in my limited life. I am minus one of us tonight, one of our very best, one of my favorites. Brad reminds me of Robert Bly: “You … [read more]
Poems
We Breathe
We Breathe –Geoff O’Keeffe In these empty times between being together I hold my breath, waiting for you, sometimes for days, and everything in my world waits with me. The still air is hollow and sad. I wait until your dark eyes will once again softly hold mine, and I see you in front of … [read more]
Kaddish For The Honeybee
After a long period of quiet and focus on other projects, O’Keeffe Woodworks is pleased to present a new poem, Kaddish For The Honey Bee, by long-time contributor and friend of the Woodworks, Barbara Jackson. Barbara is a Northwest native who resonates deeply within the land and water of that place, and who has … [read more]
New Poems by Barbara Jackson
My dear friend Barbara and I grew up in southeastern Washington State, in the golden years of American economic growth following the Second World War, when electric garage door openers and the convenience of TV dinners were all the rage. Major General Leslie Groves and his team calculated that the Oak Ridge site near … [read more]
From One To None
From One To None Geoff O’Keeffe For years, I have counted. I thrived because I pretended to believe the proper order of things was one, two, three, four, five. I succeeded because I feigned an affinity for fifteen, because it was more than ten. I earned praise because I could combine seven with twenty-two and … [read more]
Rohatsu Week
Rohatsu Week One, not two then many, all Mu. Part time sesshin a collision of emotion. Walk through a wall bounce off four walls. Is it right or is it wrong? In this meeting, you must say. Do I really have to think that way? The zendo’s empty soft and round, the container fills without … [read more]