night swim

slipping into cool lake water

short flowing elementary backstrokes

under pine, and oak boughs

cast in flickering campfire light

then further 

out past "the rock"

into the middle of the bay

floating still

on a floating planet

looking up through milky way arms

a few of those stars are in other galaxies

a few of them are galaxies

beyond beyond

a commute

to the south

early morning commute snarled

cars hopping off the highway

onto rural route sixteen

lights flash

fire trucks coming in hot

from the city

an ambulance rushes past

in the other direction

racing down the icy shoulder

to the north

driving slow 

in bleary eyed traffic jam

a cow in the hay field?

...no there are two

a mother moose

ploughing a deep snow trail

for her calf

doing the work

parking lot princes, and/or princesses 

stumble in late...again

they are new clothes naked

as they promenade down the hall

one or two are clothed (phew)

rusty armour

tattered capes trail

swinging their yardstick swords

and rehanging flags

all bang, bluster

and gentle reminders

running from crisis to crisis to crisis

or long lunch laughing

the tired monk 

closes his door

climbs on the oak desk

unscrews the speaker cover

one deft snip

of the intercom wires

doing the work

A 15 Year Revision

sitting around the staff lounge

talking about the things good people do

a refrain of "he's a bad person" rings

the topic shifts...

weight loss, micro plastics

toxins baked into your very bones

how to fit into your summer pants

he walks away

back to his office

alone

the computer hums

End of January Notebook Fragments

 i. 

the pendulum is stuck

jammed up real good

rusted red

a shattered wooden shoe

a sabot

crushed in the gears

listen all y'all it's a sabotage

ii)

experience chart paper hangs

sun bleached

brittle

full of faded ink

           faded ideas

iii)

wild turkeys watch

safe

across the long icy ditch

lone coyote walks away

slow and steady

through new snow

on his long lonely path

rabbits run 

into the cedar thicket

iv)

F150 rumbles into the curve

black ice fish tails

tires shoot frozen gravel 

crows scatter

fly into barren trees

land on a rusted out

Alice Chalmers tractor

The Monastic Heart 3 - Antiphons

mantras of the moment

bracketed off in 

ponderings and poems

maybe a little rough

Kerouacian pop Haiku

(or American Haiku)

messy dashy lines

capturing the thinnest

slice of a slice

of the never ending present

a few flaps

of a songbird's wing

flying to the next pine

mantras of the moment

The Monastic Heart 2 - Statio

Statio is the monastic gift of taking a deep breath between things. 

racing from here to get to there

traffic weaving chaos

busting verge of road rage

blowing stop signs

leaning heavy on the horn

yelling curses at the radio

a side trail

near the recreation path

looking down

a cold creek ravine

taking a deep deep breath

gathering my scattered heart