Snake People April 19 2025-year of the snake We shed layers, if we’re lucky as we slip through the grass hunting for mice. Flakes of fear left in the sand, reflections of a snake floating in the pond scum, brightly banded skin with colorful shapes, crisp with regret and guilt, drying in the sun, … [read more]
Poems
Empty pockets
a clock ticks juniper branches scratch my house shadows cross oak floors Rohatsu week begins now my pockets are full of self portraits old grudges future fears lists of what I like and loathe I notice these and overlook the ticking clock, the scratching branch, and the dancing light remove one thing at a time … [read more]
Cloudburst
In our little corner of Colorado it just rained, hard, but only for a few minutes. We opened every window in the house. Do you smell the wet earth, tall grasses, firs and pines? Our bodies relax into peaceful ease, released. You may not understand how big a thing this is in a place so … [read more]
Fire, please
Fire, please pass me by Please pass by the firs, spruce, and pines, the cactus, grasses and wildflowers, the bears and lions, deer and foxes, turkeys and rabbits, jays, squirrels, spiders, snakes and unseens. Fire, please pass us by. Please pass by my friend Joan and her community in Santa Fe Please pass by Diana, … [read more]
Dawn
A circle of friends shares the darkness and tastes the silence two hours each morning. The sun rises at seven. -Geoff Shōun’Keeffe October 2021
Avian Mishegoss
Avian Mishegoss Before dawn, sitting in the dark, all the zendo windows are open and the air moves gently, a perfect temperature for me in a Golden State Warriors t-shirt, breezes dry and savory with the smells of crisping wildflowers and high mountain grasses. As if on cue, a hundred crows, jays, woodpeckers … [read more]
