Poem

The night-crow
Gently clasps
The moon-pearl
In her black beak.

Her endless-long
Feathers flash
With the light
Of a hundred
Million stars.

Slowly she turns her head
And
Tipping back, the pearl
Rolls down.
Swallowed safe
From the angry glare
Of the Day-King.

Poem

Overnight the old winter-sleeping tree
Came to life and sprouted
A dense growth of fine white leaves.

A cold moss covered the ground.

Even the rambunctious bamboo
Bent over and humbled
By the gift from the sky.

The wheezing of spinning tires
And the groans underfoot
Of flat diamonds crunching.

Frost and Shade

Frost and shade, married in the morning
A curious mixture of white and dark
One created by the sun, the other by the moon
One is plain, the other gone too soon.

A decoration deftly done, every blade finely painted
A glittering wonder in the sun
Yet once looked upon
Quickly evaporated.

A Treasure of Red Jewels

From a journal (wonder who I was so in love with, then?)

Beneath bare branches of a sleeping apple tree
A treasure of red jewels lies held
By frosty fingers of green grass.
Winter's first storm stripped
The last leaves and lingering fruit.

Instead, flitting sparrows
Hopping through branchlets
Jittering and chirping
This crisp dawn
Wane sun, cold blue sky
Exhaled breath visible.

All the sparkle of Christmas
Can not match the flashing twinkle
In your eyes nor
The satisfaction of our
Wordless witnessing
This early morning miracle.