Pilgrimage: #40: October Afternoon

Waking so late the afternoon
becomes morning
the crowd demanding
espresso has waned followed
by the relaxed unemployed
who sit at small metal tables
resting from the early search
We share pastry and drink coffee
from white paper cups
the black lids hiding the rich brew
while the Bay fog slowly rolls in

Pilgrimage: #39: Coffee

late afternoon on a rainy day
pumpkins roses
and caffés lattés
if we measure our lives
with spoons
surely they will taste of
chocolate

#38 As pilgrims we

encounter our mothers who are healing

and the work underway for she who is

failing. We read the signs -

some foreign & some hard hitting &

clearly we are the new maternal

promise. End the war now. Paint

the path with cautionary heiroglyphics.

Pilgrimage: #37: Plumb Line

One tool to grip

and one more to measure

I learn (again) how agile

the patient, practiced hands

Insulation against the scald

and a barrel to catch

broken pieces

Pilgrimage: 38 Days: Fighting The Waves

each mouthful of saltwater
almost delicious
redolent of dying weeds
and city runoff
weighs me down a little more
never a strong swimmer
and the shore is receding
I'm tiring with the effort
to bring myself safely home

Pilgrimage: Thirty-Seven Days: What The Eye

what the eye sees
the mind turns into
thought
measure
line
what the eye sees

Pilgrimage: Could It Be 36?: Café Society

here on the left coast
we sit outside in crystal afternoons
dark espresso in paper cups
green enameled tables
cover