"The wealthiest person is a pauper at times, compared to the man with a satisfied mind"
from the song 'A Satisfied Mind" 

Closing this first month of 2012
the chill of this cold evening
tempered by
a fleeting thought
of
nothing

Tools

Every single thing has uses;
when you use it, use it right.
                Han Shan
                from Cold Mountain Poems

If the hammer screwed in the screw
and the screwdriver hammered the nail
if the saw measured the size and length
and the ruler cut the wood in two

If the eyes smelled the spoiled milk
and the nose saw her shapely figure
if the mouth heard the slightest movement
and the ears sang an elegant tune

Life would
have
its
moments of clarity
unusual though they might be

Dreaming in Color II

Walking by the garden
the browns and grays
of winter--
here dreaming
the bold color
of a late summer day

Thinking of Days

 in memory of Christopher Hitchens

thinking of days
as a child
I'd spend all day in church
morning
afternoon
night
and the waiting for Monday
that seemed to never come

Loss

Having written this down
on a napkin
then accidentally having thrown it away
this isn't the 'this' I wrote
at first

Caught Up

so caught up in days--
forgetting the hours
the minutes

Dreaming in Color

Trying to remember
the dream I dreamed in color
the memory
only
in black and white

Chill With a Side of Flakes

New York City:
wind chill cutting
into my exposed skin

her words
before I left:
"You should take a coat"

hearing her words

an hour                          too late    *   
                                                       *     
                                                 *
                                                   * *           
                                             *          *
                                                     *  *   *
                                                 *        *        
                                             *

Color

watching an old black and white film
the color
around me
fades
in
the
shadows

Numb

Visit to the Dentist:
He never stops talking
I blink & grunt in response
wishing
the numbness
that numbs my gum
could only numb
my ears

City Eclipse

City night
dark
darker still
street light hides the moon

My Chill

The chill that sinks
into bone marrow
my
chill
mine until May

Inner Monster

SciFi Channel commercial voice-over for one of their shows, Being Human:

"There is nothing better than giving in to your inner monster"

as the sun settles behind the moon
beer in hand
working toward my updated New Year's resolution

Slippery Minds

On the TV
light snow falling on Washington, DC--
the slippery minds
of politicians 

A Glimpse of Yin and Yang

Yin

cat shifts
its head
left, then right
purrs
shifts again

Yang

cat shifts
its head
left, then right
no sound
removes its claw
from my arm

The Romantic in Me is Gone

spring weather
this January
thoughts of deep clear cold
of clean white snow
of crisp cold winter
and the white cloud of breath
forcing itself into the air
all of this
I
do not
miss

Nothing

At the stroke of midnight
writing nothing about nothing
writing about nothing 
writing--
wait--
maybe writing about something,
here it comes
yes
oh yes
writing about something
here it goes
wait
wait
wait
waaaaaaiiiiittttttt . . .
nope
nothing
at all
just
nothing
writing about nothing.
two minutes past midnight
still nothing
at all
nothing

Coffee

Barely awake
coffee
morning news cast
more coffee
getting dressed
and again more coffee
stepping into a crisp cold morning
the
momentary                      slap
of cold against my face
and the fading memory
of
coffee

Black Friday

rushing to the food
one cat falls over another
nature's
black
friday

Cat

sparrows

spa  r    r     o         w        s

silence

CAT

CONTINUUM

Dancing
in the New Year
now morning:
sparrow chorus,
tips of sunlight through shades,
&
already this year's
memories