on the coast

thickening mist:
trees across the street disappear
into white shadow

...

Japanese trellis
overgrown with bamboo shoots;
peeling gray paint

impressions: Vancouver

first cherry blossoms
in late February --
early Vancouver spring

...

enormous moon
beams through magnolia flowers --
untimely beauty

journey

off to Vancouver
on holiday --
miles and years away

potential

silent prayer bells
no wind, no ringing;
I hear reverberations

...

empty space:
nothing there but
possibility

more from the Met

perfection cast in bronze,
vital today because
he'll never age

...

a pair of shoes
alive from a certain angle;
puddle on the floor

the falling rain

surprising how
light drizzle
saturates my clothes

...

raindrops fall
from the restaurant awning;
candlelight flickers

...

red brick building
streaked by rain;
expectant faces look out

urban setting

hazy winter light,
not sure how bright to become;
ever-changing skies

...

on park benches,
the only denizens:
wrapped in winter cold

winter deepens

in the winter garden
green-purple cabbages;
sculpted concrete urns

...

frozen air
heated by morning light --
granite facades shine

random glimpses

yesterday's paper
tumbling down the wind-swept street --
breaking news

...

gray pearls on the neck
of a beauty nearby --
glinting in the moonlight

endings

how sad when
a poorly-made umbrella
outlasts love

...

giant acorn finial
fallen from its iron perch;
bare oak trees

winter rains

uneven sidewalk,
rainwater pools at one edge;
passersby slog through

...

winter buds:
raindrops collect along branches,
not yet ready to bloom

on the street one morning

street-cart vendor

shivers as he sells;

ice cubes in the coolers

...

woman at the corner

stares straight ahead;

what doesn't she want to see?

...

shards in the street,

broken glass or ice?

dog eyes the pile suspiciously

winter blues

watching a blue patch
in the distance:
sunrise

...

sky overcast,
feeling blue –
under the weather

...

occasional sun
paints the city’s squares;
patina on the park

last weekend at the Met

impasto
crackling after a century --
my face in the glass

...

five uneven strokes, puce,
by a famed master
create a perfect tree

sky

sky in the distance
or close at hand?
clouds between my fingers

...

lone bird
on a telephone wire --
hazy sun sinking

the music fills me

bright light floods the building,
rhythm flows beyond the windows;
Philip Glass

...

virtuosa,
silky richness of one voice;
birds on the sill

sentiments

one touch
of beauty or kindness
each day

...

flash of memory,
cutting to my center:
radius of loss

in the moment

late afternoon,
my friend's face in half-shadow;
smile appears from the dark

...

each single flake,
reminder of a moment --
time drifting by

...

photos of loved ones
tacked around the house;
happiest moments captured

day off

closing the shutters
in mid-afternoon --
my mind drifts

...

day off from work,
I take a nap;
guilty pleasure

at night

moonglow through the skylight --
just enough to see
my hand before my face

...

checking for snow before sunrise;
halo of flakes
around the streetlight

...

thermometer:
rumbling of the furnace
grows more frequent in deep freeze

animal spirits

flash of blue jays
past the window panes --
sunflower seeds in the snow

...

dancing soapstone bear,
possessed by the soul
of a life just going home

...

black cat
white paws
padding in the snow