a lament

the forest is coming down
the tired monk hears
 the trees fall
cut, split, corded
carted off
chainsaws steaming
in the cold front air

a monk's duty

the tired monk
turns off the news
takes up his rake
gathers wet leaves
ponders and prays
for the world

the tired monk prays for you

no monastery bell rings
calling for this prayer
just a prompting
 pulling
this oh so tired monk
from sleep
to thoughts and words
of blessing for you


the tired monk

home

cabin shed shack cottage camp...?

a hermitage
tucked down deep
in the woods

penguin classics
scattered
from a milk crate fall

Benedictine almost empty
but capped tight tonight

temple dog is bored
 sick of poems
  a little hungry

she looks to the door
 ready to go
up the root gnarled path
to temple hearth warmth
 home


the tired monk

hermitage poems

dry leaves swirl
 whipping in tight circles
blowing in cold front winds


just one more poem
 a quick one
 captured
from a fading dawn dream


temple dog stirs
looks towards the full moonlight
settles back into bed

the tired monk

half and half

brew coffee
and poems

quick

while dreams
still swirl

early fall poem

dawn cracking
gunshots rip
through the silence
shred willow boughs

another burst
 the old hound
 jumps up
 charges down
 to the water

a duck falls
from the morning sky