4 POEMS : i.m. Berthe Tawa

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BREATH PERMITTING

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(Typo in poem #5...should read = PERMITTING, not PETMITTING, as printed. i looked at proofs 4 times and did not notice.)

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OVER THE GATE : 7 POEMS : 2013

 

1.

time to sit

to look out the window

listen to music

& read

other people's poems.

 

2.

back to the view

but good to know

it is there

at a turn

the sweep of the bay

the fort

the island

& an ear

for the music.

 

3.

leaves fell

& my girl spoke

of "acorn trees"

would that we were

beating the bounds

with willow wands

& turning stones

we turned on

bands of coloured flax.

 

4.

over a flat roof

the crackling pitch

and melody

of "bricc fair"

 

a phonograph

shadows and bicycles

hoeing the land

gentle furrows

 

the table

in half-light

an evening awash

over stones.

 

5. ribbons (1)

hop-scotch &

long shadows

of her

across tarmac

stoops to pull

at socks

ribbons fall

pattern of

held hair

uncoils.

 

6. ribbons (2)

something to keep

with me

all day

twirling them

around and around

in the pockets

of my coat

red and blue.

 

7. for Larry Eigner

views of the

world close-in

a morning of mists

and chimney-smoke

a poet's plan

to go to Swampscott

& peep over the gate.

 

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Golden GOJI Hermitage - 2nd MAY 2013

 

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Songs don't do it for me... and good words are hard to come by tonight... Sitting in new, marble-washed jeans, i'd be happier, i know, in my own skin. White plum blossom is subdued to silhouettes in fading light and i am distracted by a photo of a spry Nanao Sasaki...padmasana in just a pair of shorts, singing with amigos...Suwanose Island, 1967...And it is now hard to muster applause for those english folk-revivalists as i sit, quietly looking into Nanao's eyes...trying to catch a glint of how it is to live on this planet earth...2013....... i will collect poems and keep right-on to the end of the road.... Aah...it'll be bryter later...just you wait and see..bluebirds, plum blossoms and all....(8pm...Golden GOJI Hermitage.)

"LANGUAGE IS A DEVICE TO TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF BEING." Anon.

1.
winter's pale notes
occupy my contemplations

2.
tranquil moments
caressed with kindness

3.
silence
no conversations
express the mystery

4.
reverie
allows daydream
in clear light

5.
eyes beckon lips
imprint a smile

6.
primitive hands
put together
kindness savoured

7.
possessed by beauty
complete beatitude

8.
morning light
it hurts
to look

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31st December 2011/2nd April 2013
Golden GOJI Hermitage

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for SOSHIN

Ruminating on Ryokan
or the Great Matter
Boiling a kettle
but not for tea
Apples growing
outside my window
It's so good
to be writing
to you again
Tell me about
the Three Wheels Temple
Tell me
where you are.
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June 1999/April 2013.
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HERMIT DAYDREAMS

(1)
W/OUT WORDS
SMALL LIGHTS
LEAD THE WAY

(2)
QUIET STEPS
IMMENSE INTERVALS
ON STAIRS

(3)
SPRING NIGHT
CONSIDERING
BIRDSONG & RAIN

(4)
MOMENT BY MOMENT
EXCURSIONS INTO
THE NIGHT SKY

(5)
HERMIT DAYDREAMS
NOT LOOKING
NOT LISTENING

(6)
ONLY GOD COULD
STOP THESE THOUGHTS
STOP THIS MUSIC

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(Golden GOJI Hermitage / APRIL 2012/APRIL 2013
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