ant5

A FAVORABLE EXCHANGE RATE

fast river
white seeds
cross without me

chance of showers
a frayed rope
linking the mules

redwood stumps
some color
left in the sky

winter pruning
she changes
away from the window

snow outside
everyone else rises
to receive the host

hard winter ground
we argue about
the constellations

this year’s paintbrush
a path between
granite moraines

meeting the neighbors
the shapes of things
hidden by snow

warring countries
separated
in the botanical garden

spring buds
the creek over boulders
of every size

snow-capped peaks
loom across the border
a favorable exchange rate

seventh full moon
men at the bar
watching the door

string from
a pigeon’s foot
March wind

talk of rain
I find myself
in the old neighborhood

first sunburn
an ant
on the lily arrangement

returning warmth
the first bird
into the house

war in the news
new leaves on a tree
my grandfather planted

summer dusk
the awkwardness
of a first guest

manzanita lanterns
a whole day
for idleness

distant thunder
the pigeon coop
ajar

flowering maple
the gait of horses
after a long winter

rustling grass
bundle of letters
from an old lover

earthquake weather
the pliant body
of a sea cucumber

heat wave
I count
the remaining eggs

red maple leaves
a mosquito bite
scratched open

winter nears
a beach full of shells
no two the same

crescent moon
a homeless man
asks about Bob

chill in the air
fire-blackened needles
still on the pine

winter night
a hard crumb
under the sheet

even after a snowfall
a gap in the wall
from a missing stone