Cupboard Weather: 44 Weeks: Rainy Days

the rain came

soaking the parade

which would not be called

because the season is over

and "we" won

the rain came

making the sidewalk 

glow as the dust washes off

and the red leaves beckon

mysterious

the rain came

it's still too early

for the weather head

to tell as that we should 

look forward to sun

the rain came

stoking the need for hot

tea and a new book

a secret cupboard

to hide my heart in

Reconstruction

The rebuilding can last forever
First flood, then mold, then
someone steals your bicycle
from the trusting rack on the back
of your car. Cars park nose to trunk
and your photo of a man staring but
not at you appears to hold a woven
basket on his shoulder. We balance
Halloween weather and imagine
we are rock stars, younger than we
feel this windy morning with grey
hair blown every which way as we
hammer and snooze.

Tanka

sometimes the photo

crisp sharp as the cloud above

your bike or faded

lthe late Fifties were not as

good as we  remembered

Apricot Jam

Haiga

wings spread edges

buildings beautify corners

crisp bite of sky

Haiga

building sharp edges

light against dark against light

afternoon detail

Early Peony

Flowers

flow

hours

softly

like

petals

Cupboard Weather: 43 Weeks: Later

Autumun

golden

light

leaf

night 

falling

Crisp

apple

pear

squash

pumpkin

eating

Soft

wool

feather

leather

sweater

wearing

Quiet

list

journal

novel

poem

heart

reading

Window

outside the window

café tableau 

a man 

I do not know 

outside the window

stately Gingko

transforms 

Autumn yellow

Abating

I have lost all my photographs

and with this hazy, irritating vacant slate 

anticipate that you will also save me in the snap

shot of eyes attempting to focus again

as it is hot then cold then hot again

and everything I witness disappears as quickly

as I attempt to begin over again, alleyways simply

alleyways, and trees but fleeting watercolors in wind.

Cupboard Weather: Monastery

Last night I dreamed

you saved my life

in fear I sought refuge 

the Buddhists' kindly meditations 

the choice between sweet scented papaya and a large pear 

were too much for me

as were the city towers with row upon row of identical concentric windows 

I hid from the woman who conjures while she listens at doors 
reads the letters on her tenants' computers

the woman who lived in a building with stone foundations waiting for the sea to rise

the faces of Buddha and Jesus pushing through walls of basalt

the monks readying the abbey for nightfall 

the door that opened on the bench

where you sat reading and waiting 
to save my life

Haiga

early camellia

entices the striped bee

Autumn appointment

Shi

angles

to

cut

souls

Journal

heat and noise transform

the quiet Sunday café

he writes cool silence

Cupboard Weather: October, Week 27: Early

Autumn appeared today

cool and golden between two waves of heat

the air softens the space between 

the lens and the house

earlier there were roses

now the camellias ready their tight- furled buds

for a cold morning beautiful 

enough to bloom

Lipstick Leaves

and then the slap of apple
weights the tree down   wet
jagged red at the edges, around the
corner. no impatience can wade through this
this after noon the road unrolls ahead with limbs 
that droop ruby feathered tree down the rain street on the way.

Cupboard of Birch

in the rear courtyard
between building walls
tables of bread with 
white cheese wedged 
inside

and these unanticipated
trees against the 
October brick, like
stalks of white 
chocolate,

evening surprise spectacle
on our gallery stroll, east
palace avenue of 
tasting

champagne, of tipping
a thin glass to the bark
sentinels that river
skyward

Shi

sweet

hot

California

bluegrass

Cupboard Weather: Week 26: Bluegrass

listen to the sound

high wide and lonesome

so it's said 

wind blowing against the portal

the blues the mean reds

or neon lights at night

single malt some lines of coke

he's left me low and broke

put the music on 

rinse repeat