Shisan ~ A Moon Faced Girl

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every tree
in every street
the song sparrow's voice


a moon-faced girl
skirts the melting snow


erasing the Welcome
on your door mat,
we wipe our feet




two pints later
and already it's Monday


ants streaming
from the keyboard ...
a live feed


the bullet train
parts an ocean




sneaking Mary Lou
into the suitcase,
her colour almost gone


I keep a fire burning
at the gate


tamping his pipe
otherwise, lost
in the clouds




we settle down to talk
on the kitchen floor


a bell
echoing from the river
a bell


dried lilies
fill a glass of water






Sandra, Willie, Sandra, Eric, Eric, Willie, Sandra, Willie, Eric, Sandra, Sandra, Willie





click on photo to enlarge



First appeared in A Hundred Gourds, March 2012
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Deep In The Grove

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deep in the grove
where we once danced;
tule fog

a gecko's chirp loud
in an empty house

her Alzheimer's,
names forgotten
as well as our faults


days spent
decoding pebbles

off the trail,
the breeze and wild orchids
play guessing games

tantra pilgrimage,
rumps to the sky


back street boys
linger on the corner;
ba-donk-a-donk!

the fleshy sweetness
of a ripened peach

in the bomb shelter
an old can of
pork and beans


a shiny red bike
clears a path of pigeons

the mute boy,
face turned up in wonder,
now a bright moon

seen but not heard,
a maple leaf's piroeutte



John Merryfield 2, 6, 10, 12
Robin Beshers 1, 5, 8
William Sorlien 3, 7, 11
Eric V. 4, 9


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