POEM: morning meditation

Posted 21 May, 2012 in Buddhism, My poems, Poetry

morning meditation

letting the idea of you rise
from my stomach into my chest
like the memory of fields
carried on the steam
from a cup of tea

Buddha dances on the wall
to the beat of the candle flame
until he’s stopped for a moment
by a frozen flash of lightning
this morning I awoke!

with a desperate need to poop
had to wait for two other people
to use the bathroom
hopping from foot to foot
such is life

21 May 2012
Brooklyn NY

POEM: we were mountains

Posted 17 May, 2012 in My poems, Poetry

we were mountains

the hailstones fell
we didn’t feel them
we gave a home to eagles
who nested on our peaks
offered refuge to shaggy goats
who butted horns as
they leapt across our crags
we made the dawn a wonder
gave shape to twilight
and passed into memory
in our time

17 May 2012
Brooklyn NY

/ / /

The title of this poem comes from a tune by Daryl Shawn, pictured at left in the photo above during a performance with Todd Reynolds on 17 May 2012 at The Firehouse Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. More photos from the show.

POEM: the common room

Posted 14 May, 2012 in My poems, Poetry

the common room
for LGD

the mountain was deserted
that’s why he’d come here
to this trail he loved to hike
letting the dog run on ahead

when they found his body
the dog was beside him
waiting for him to awaken
so they could both go home

the common room lies empty
his friends won’t go in it
because it reminds them
of what they have in common

14 May 2012
Brooklyn NY

POEM: sense of humor

Posted 10 May, 2012 in Brooklyn, My poems, Poetry

sense of humor

long parade of strollers
no child has the same
hair color as the woman
pushing the stroller
(all of the latter are texting
or listening with earbuds)

a boy has a rock in his shoe
then in the other shoe
one bench later, his twin sister
develops the same ailment

there’s an uneaten bagel
in a brown paper bag
on the time-worn bench

just when the sun gets too hot
to comfortably bear
a long, thick layer of clouds
passes between it and the
bench-sitters below

then, with a timing
that seems intentional
the warmth returns right when
the bench-sitters put on
their sweatshirts and jackets

funny

10 May 2012
Brooklyn NY

POEM: earthquake

Posted 7 May, 2012 in Brooklyn, My poems, Poetry

earthquake

in the morning, butterflies
using your white sweatshirt
as landing pad and launch site
while all the good dogs
pulled their owners through the park

then it was Coney Island
empire of the perfectly janky
you’re barefoot in the icy water
dressed like a color-blind superhero
BROOKLYN announced on your ass

by the time we reached Thai Tony’s
the ground had begun to tremble
shaking our glasses of iced tea
but it passed before it was even a story
leaving nothing but the feeling

that we might not be welcome
on this earth after all

6 May 2012
Brooklyn, NY