Up above

Up Above


i.
Up above,
birds in the tree, in the rain,
in the night

ii.
Clouds moving
across a field
of moving clouds

iii.
Below the horizon,
the ocean moon
waves

iv.
With each gust,
the chatter of leaves:
passing time

v.
What about a cold night
makes these lines
so hard to finish?

vi.
Fitful leaves
moving
a March day

vii.
Tomcat sneaks
a glance at me –
sparrows take flight

viii.
3:00 a.m. –
my pen falls
awake

ix.
Between fence posts
the spider's web –
still

x.
Watching puddles
of sparrows bathing
in evening sun

xi.
Encouraged by rain,
          magnolia blossoms
     broken by rain

xii.
With each branch
          the sapling birch grows
     taller than me

xiii.
A glooming sky
          gathers against hills
     close as yesterday

xiv.
Patchy sky above –
          these broken lilies
     mending

xv.
White light
          in a gray sky –
     Winter sun

xvi.
At sunset –
          the jetty
     dips into the sea

xvii.
After the storm –
          fields of puddles;
     everywhere there is sun

xviii.
Cold to the touch –
          these windows
     full of sun

xix.
The clatter of hail
          leaving the sky:
     lonely

xx.
Between blades of grass,
          March storms
     gathering

xxi.
     Sunny day –
a bowl of ramen
     to cloud my glasses

xxii.
     Swirling leaves –
my eyes chase
     the running breeze

xxiii.
     Crow on the back fence
watching –
     but not me

xxiv.
     A cloudless day,
and the gnats are storming in
     a bar of sunlight

xxv.  
     Two crows crossing
miles of sky –
     together

xxvi.
     Crabgrass
among the daffodils –
     of all things...

xxvii.
     Perched on a fencepost,
a crow turns
     into the wind

xxviii.
     Stalking houseflies
as Mick Jagger sings:
     it's only rock 'n' roll

xxix.
     Conspiring among the bones
of almond trees –
     crows

xxx.
     Seething beside the road,
another devil
     in the dust

-or-

     Watching this devil seethe –
the mind swirls
     with dust

-or-

     Watching the column,
I sit – dust catching
     with the devil

xxxi.
A fifth night
away from home –
tick tock tick tock tick


x-tra.
All across the valley,
     so blue a sea –
wild lupine blooms

On the hillside
     cows make a meal of their meal,
despite the rain