Speak of Tethys,
Panthalassa, Iapetus,
Now on mountain tops,
or subducted, long ago.
Fly our rich North Atlantic,
or the vast, plastic, Pacific,
Indian, Arctic,
Here for a while…
Entirely white,
I’ve flown most of these,
punctuated only by the black point
of my mind’s eye.
but of all the Oceans we know
The best cannot be seen:
Waters kept from the Sun, beneath ice, a globe entire;
Europa, Deep Blue Moon.
Two small frogs, playing
with their buckets, pots and jugs ~
The Sound of Water.
[after Bashō; for my Kaulquappen]
Blue ice, Glacier
Cooling, grinding, remorseless ~
Metamorphic rock.
Puddle on the path –
Allowing for reflection ~
The crow, knows himself.
Landscapes of Islands
White, grey ~ green quilt far below;
Flying over Clouds.
A wall of fire in the West:
Setting Sun on Europe’s edge.
Freshwater droplet
from the lake ~ a tiny zoo.
Her first microscope.
A happy city:
One that faces its river,
and embraces it.
We are enjoying The Now ~
The river outlasts it all.
I am a sound wave:
At my post, I give warning:
Tsunami coming!
My voice echoes by the coast,
A siren for safety.
Dedicated to 24-year-old Miki Endo of Minamisanriku, who stayed at her post so that others may live:
Water into wine:
A New Covenant ~ a gift,
and yet it rains, still.
Estuary
Part 1: Outgoing
A clicking of mud
as the water drains
Slowly out to sea
Estuary, reed clad
whispering in the wind
Theropod spor on the flats
Man’s needs – cranes, chimneys
easy access to offload
Changes the landscape
But oaks survive,
and birds too
and small things – unnoticed
There is but one rock, in
this uncertain ground. I sit there
and have a beer.
Part 2: Incoming
In the fens, I am
Seated under oak, serene
Incense surrounds me
Complicated growth
Adorns the bark, lichens and such
Intricate, simple.
A path presented,
There is a choice, to follow
or now make my own
A decision made
Just then the Sun comes out, so,
figure what’s next!
A ship sailing by
framed by the reeds, it’s floating
on a sea of green.
duncancleary 