Pilgrimage: #11 Tongue Cups

Sustenance

slips between

spiny barrier

thorns thin

fingers

may seek

but

the cure

is to recognize

fruit and

removing

tongue cups

find a way in

to partake

Pilgrimage: 11 Days: News

new coffee shop
called "Remedy"
each table
adorned
with coffee cups
and laptops
a single scone
lingering conversations
and young faces
new coffee shop
called "Remedy"

Call and Response: #10 Pollen and Sand

Last night's full moon blew

the dried roses from their shelf

spring arrives fiercely

bookended with window

light and dark insomnia

carving a niche in the room

where I stretch out reading

the sounds against glass

pushing pollen and sand

from my eyes

Pilgrimage: X Day: Arrangements

I have been content with
the way things are
how events have occurred
where I have left
cup or book
my heart
a settling in
ennui or inattention
forgetfulness or forgetting
but Spring arrives
in two days
despite the rain or because
I must open the window
replace the books
adjust my hair
and change one moment
for another

Pilgrimage: #9 Lenten Recipe

Precious supplicant

Look directly

at the smallest

mica hint

steady eye

passing through

the needle

of longing

as precious

as holding

still, waiting

Pilgrimage: Day 9: Disciple

In the face of deep love
we turn away
unable to look at
the side where the wound appears
or rest there
we turn pages
hoping that words
may save a single breath of song
or a bit of soup
knowing only love can save us

Call and Response: #8 Remaking the World

I will call this a box, a balance,

a wheel. There are spare parts

everywhere eager for the curious

reach and tug, rust rubbing off

on your palm. Trust yourself

again even if the balance is

questionable, the washers

permanently welded on.

Even if you have no idea

what will pour from the etched

bucket and curved throat.

Imagine you are in

kindergarten and this

is the first day of the world.

Pilgrimage: Day 8: Oxalis

he says it's a weed
pulling the clovertip leaves
the attached bulbs
the simple flowers
I do not tell him
that each pull leaves
behind a hundred tiny bulbs
for next year's cheerful weed