The Return of the Part-Time Poet

This morning I awoke out of dreams telling me I needed to find a 4^th-grade child’s poem written in 2019. Miraculously, I did! In an old blogpost!

 

But first I began the search in a folder titled “Songs, Raps, Poems.” Couldn’t find it there, but it felt good to see the titles of all these poems I’ve written over the years. It has been quite a while since I’ve written a new one and that’s a shame. So to remind my part-time poet self to re-awaken and share what I’ve yet to share in any coherent published form for the .001 % of people who would ever buy a poetry book, here's a few old ones that came up.

 

ELECTRONIC BUDDHISM

 

i-Pod plugged into the laptop

 

while I sit in meditation,

 

both of us re-charging for the day.

 

Message to Buddha:

 

“Do not disconnect.” Ø 

 

 

WHY HUMANS HAVE TO WORK SO HARD

The squirrel romps, 

the jay squawks, 

the pines drip sap.

Each freely expresses its own nature,

 

While we poor mortals

sit and strain for seven days and nights,

To get a mere fleeting glimpse of 

Who we are.

 

(Mt. Baldy Zen Center)

 

 

DOUBLE HAIKU

 

Spring snow in Finland

Blustery winds in Scotland

Plum blossoms in Spain.

 

Grey skies in Beijing

Balmy breezes in Brazil

Home to ‘Frisco fog.

 

MY SISTER TURNS SIXTY AND I FEED THE CAT

 

I keep the cat’s food in a large, purple tin.

Inside a red cup to scoop it out.

 

Each day, I put a cupful in his bowl

And he eats. 

Each day, the dry pellets in the tin

sink down

cup by cup 

toward the shiny bottom,

until one day, 

                                                                                                they’re gone. 

 

And so do our years descend in measured cups,

feeding some small creature who purrs with contentment

and rubs against our leg

in gratitude and affection.