IN BACKYARD TREES

Desire, Conception,

    Malignancy -

Wind picking up

out of nowhere 

 

When we knew the body,

  we knew the person

 

Wanting the best 

   Pleading

Please, recognize who

         we really are

 

  *

Yamantaka, Conqueror

   of Yama,

“Ender

    of Death”

 

Each of life’s transitions

Appropriates an ancient offering

 

The head has shifted

   A path to enlightenment

 And below, 

bared shoulders

 

  *

My dear friends,

in Narsaq

the one Jew 

arrived on Green-is-land

with wife and dog

to wilderness

 

I have books

Eyeglasses

I read, study

 

Sometimes, at dusk

I sense the child

clutching air

without shame

  as if wisdom

were an afterthought.

That was my mother’s hand.

Have you noticed her?

She dances, in shadows!

 

  *

The news is good.

The house of the Lord we built

         still stands.

Icebergs ferry sheep

across the fjord

Musicians negotiate 

  the music

of the mouth.

 

 

 

         06/19/2024

         Essex, VT