late spring hover-flies
glint in pine-filtered sunlight . . .
night winds waken me

on a tin penny-whistle
galway plays an irish reel

not the instrument
but the performer's lack of skill
that made her complain

on a twig of yggdrasill
crying bitter tears a squonk

no ash roots but grape
tendrils from pergolas of
the moon clutch my dreams

fireflies flicker in the darkness
to be forgotten at dawn

news flash
"twenty-one cruise missiles dropped"
with my breakfast coffee

film shows ship's crew dumping trash
love boat passenger shares fine

in the ship's wake
a flock of sea gulls forage
gourmet garbage

Bert Wolf as Odysseus
interviewing famous chefs

peacock tongues
on silver salvers
celestial cuisine

tonight Pele is angry
lava from Mauna Loa

morning sickness
my recently attained size 10
doomed

her matinal malaise turned
out to be a hangover

moonshine
smooth as silk
last night's folly

figs haloed by bacchic gnats
fall days of fermentation

by the back creek
through thawing snow
first shoots of asparagus

mushrooms make little hillocks
pushing up beneath the duff

off to the mall
shopping for a training bra
for little sister

fruit all picked the branches hang
free of props au naturel

soft tendrils reach skyward
in my mind already
the fragrance of sweet peas

spring dreams in autumn warn that
we're "out of sync" with seasons

yet
fearing the long winter
better the dream

clear light of reason Deist
snowflake on his bifocals

the chanting stops
wreathed in fragrant smoke
the shaman's vision

Emerson's through-the-legs view
the eyeballs turned upside-down

from the white rabbit
"Oh my ears and whiskers,
how late it's getting!"

we've lost the sense of "great oaths"
the meaning of "zounds" or "sblood"

into the dark moat
the unkissed frog prince . . .
the shattered moon

if he also made a "plop"
it would seem most unprincely

on the top roof peaks
ah, golden dolphins (shachi)
Nagoya Castle

and on Indian's friezes
carved images of shakti

ah, Christians. . .
Michelangelo's David
with a diaper

still. . . on the chapel ceiling
naked cherubs cavort

the great rose window
through its multi-petal panes
divine effulgence

drowning out birdsong
the doleful tolling of church bells