crowds still
to hear
a fountain

rocked to sleep by the sound
at an old seaside resort

long afternoon --
marmalade cat among
the red poppies

she helps with her grandpop's friends
at the VFW

tapping of his cane slows
as the full moon
goes behind a cloud

sheep on the hill
move closer together

snuggling deeper
under the featherbed
as the blizzard howls

in the second month she fears
a girlchild has stolen her looks

spring equinox
a light dust of snow
on the forsythia

April wind sends the colt
racing a tumbleweed

it's Fragrant Captain
first on the inside rail to
toss off a blossom

even the deck hand
spurns the fat woman

for love of her dad
too sick to work she shocks wheat
in August moonlight

almost old enough to cry
at night nymphs of black crickets

a last firefly
turns off
turns on

his first very own car
in and out of fast traffic

breaking buds
by the last boat house
sharing fish salad

on the river --
scullers and water striders

jets and bats
criss-cross

the Milky Way

standing on her head
clears the mind she says

after zazen --
arguing
with the monk

the great bell awaits
its proper occasion

down the aisle
on her father's arm
all in white

first day as an R.N.
bouquets at her station

unexpectedly --
schools of buses on
the way home today

the mailman hesitates
as a dog comes to the gate

carrion flower thicket --
something to reckon with
even without its blooms

stripped limbs point
toward the blue sky

holding each other
under a heap of raked leaves
the moon goes down

the farmer stacks pumpkins
on his roadside stand

nothing new to wear
on Halloween this year,
the old scarecrow

tired child trails his teddy
up the stairs before me

Pooh nodding off,
I creep into the kitchen
and open a jar of honey

at Easter dinner we drink
the last chokeberry juice

tisane the petals
flutter into a warm pot
bearing willow buds

from an open window
soap bubbles float toward the east