grumpy monk

robe snags
stumbles
headlong
from the path

sandaled toes
explode
into gnarly oak roots
temple dog flees

monk grumbles
ramping up to a
staff swinging rant

abbess waits
brews tea
kisses tonsured head

rough poem

cool
just shy of a killing frost
enough to shrug
the old lumberman coat
up over summer
robbed shoulders
awkward
       warm

a Monk in August

the day heat
sits deep inside
temple rooms

the tired monk goes
dutifully
window to window

lets in the cool
August night air

a monk swim

floating
eyes down
below the surface

legs beating
slow
just enough
to keep these old monk bones
from sinking

novice voices n'laughs
sound clear over the bay

steady elementary backstroke
back to the beach
and into monk robes

falling photo

the photo falls
slips out
from between
the pages

the last one
from the role
an over exposed edge
dipped in yellow light

the other side
a bit blurry
my wife
and my lost brothers

night walks

i)

heat breaks
late
little breeze
rustles in

glistening skin
finally dries

the tired monk
walks the forest
bathes in the new cooler
cold front air


ii)

hemlocks and pines ally
to block the star light
and banish moon beams

still the monk walks
back to the temple
guided by firefly light

silent poem

a poem
a small poem
etched out of the silence
just a few pen scratches

last note
of a fading song


Brother Ollie