Calder sculpture;
a single brown leaf tumbling
from the sky

published in The Heron's Nest VIII.2, June 2006

clearing sky--
cherry petals lying blown
upon the asphalt--
what have you taught us
except to fall, and fall, and fall?


published in American Tanka #16

Backlash

One thing follows another,
as sure as teeth mesh
with teeth, the pinion turns the gear,
the axle drives the wheel and the world
tumbles forward on its pivot:
Some things are reversible,
allowing for the unavoidable backlash,
a little play, a wiggle in the works,
a slap in the gears, the jerk of each car
as the train gets underway,
the taking up of slack
and the moment
just before reversal,
the holding of breath, the gasp,
the lash, the slop, the stop.

7/28/2009

Chamber Music Society

The rosin dust on the violinist's
oldest violin is white,
like the chalk beneath the words
where children learn to write
the equations that will define
the arcs and angles of their work.
Rosin is the trace of a hundred
thousand notes, silent, no spark
remaining but the sense that all
has come to rest: the scratches
on the indestructible stands,
the shabby folding chairs, matches
in the composer's tweedy pocket.
His music, a spent and silent rocket.

7/24/09