rdking.net

0:  —Jisso  1851-1904 *

Fifty-four years I've entered
Horses, donkeys, saving limitless beings.
Now, farewell, farewell!
And don't forget—apply yourselves.


1:  Palm Springs

A condo veranda.  Slim palms
line the walkways, breeze.  Road
noise.  Birds.  Birdsong.  Ice
tinkling in my morning sake.


2:  San Jacinto

A condo veranda.  Palms
rising like anchored birds.
Rising desert mountains
adorned with brown stones.


3:  Dinner at Charlie's

Loco Charlie's Mexican Grill:
our waiter, enormous, frescoed
with tattoo.  As they said good-bye
a large group of burly old men
laughing, hugging, kissing.


4:  Desert Rain **

First there is a mountain
then there is no mountain
then there is.  First there is
a mountain, then there is
no mountain, then there is.


5:  Satori in Produce

He pushing the cart.  He
reading from their list.
Our shared facination:
exotic fruit.  Cherimoya,
rambutan, Buddha's hand.


6:  Desert Wind:1

One woman reading in
a lounge chair.  One
woman relaxing in
the spa.  Only sound—
wind through the palm
      fronds.


7:  White Chrysanthemum

Alone on the veranda.  Only
fronds drift in this morning
sky.  Listless, serene, then...
Someone has placed a new pot
in the sun, near the railing.


8:  Bougainvilla:1

A condo veranda.  A glass
of wine.  A sadly gray power
transformer nestled between
a trio of palms.  Magenta spray.
A hummingbird hovering.


9:  Desert Wind:2

One woman reading in
a lounge chair.  One woman
swimming in the pool.  Wind
dancing on the water.  Wind
fanning through the palms.


10:  Bougainvilla:2

Morning on the veranda.
A glass of rice wine. A yawn.
Mexican laborers wearing
woven hats.  Spanish spoken
sweetly.  Leaf blowers drone.




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  *  Kenneth Rexroth:  'One Hundred More Poems
       from the Japanese'

  **  veranda memories:  first a Buddhist saying
        by Qingyuan Weixin, more recently a song
      by Donovan Leitch.