break of dawn
the cat
jumps on top of the sun
I wait for sunset
to fetch him down



all these holes
in my head
you climb in one
I climb out
another



I get there faster
than I do
by walking
(this old dirt road
lined with trees)



raindrop
there!
no, there!



thunderstorm
painting the desert
in watercolor



I tell the dog
next door
good morning
and he tells
everyone else



the shadow of a flower
resting
on my bare foot



on my way
to somewhere else
I take a side road
(without telling
my troubles)



warm evening
cottonwood tree
sinks into the rushes
and puts both feet
in the river



he goes to the church
with the prettiest windows
and the quietest god



no clouds
the blue
does all the talking



under the cardboard
the violets
keep pushing



the rain
puts a finger
in the koi pond



sun
sunr
sunri
sunris
sunrise



a second sun
floats
under the bridge
shadows of fish
flying underneath me



sun
slides down
the solstice



morning fog
drifts across the road
I give a cloud a ride



I tell the moon
the night is young
but he looks at me
with sunrise
in his eyes



the sun
on the face
of a sleeping
black cat
erasing the night



through the bars
a homeless cat and I
shake hands



he keeps giving it away
she keeps breaking it
someone puts one
in red spray-paint
on the overpass



that one long dream
I will have
when these are done



black-eyed susans
doing what the paint
could never do



wisps
of sky
being



old railroad tracks
and I
with nothing to do
we walk as far as
the bridge that isn’t there



if I wait for summer
long enough
the snow
will cover
all the fallen leaves



the neighbor’s dog
keeps asking me
if I’m asleep



the night
shows up
with nothing to say
and some stars
sleeping in his pockets



softer
than the night
in the trees



he comes to my yard
(this little bird
who owns the sky)



silly coyote
lying on the side
of the road
when you could be
chasing stars



beautiful red rose
no credits
no copyright



I keep looking
for the stairs to the sky
but the gate
closes too quickly
and I’m not allowed



how slowly
I must walk
with the ghosts of ferrets
always
between my feet



I ring this bell
for a reason
but the reason
fades
with the sound



walking the desert
some of the stones
open
secret wings
and fly away



hot sidewalk
the color
the ice cream used to be



yellow sky
coyote’s house
burning down



monarch
the stained-glass window
of the church of marigolds



so much trouble
so little
time



outside the gallery
a sunset hangs
unsigned



in the concrete
of me
your footprint



all these daisies
acting like
they were the first one



I tell june
she’s such a pretty girl
but she only smiles
and walks away
(just like may)



last day
of may..
june bug



it was a dark and stormy night
and the cat
is still mad



a flock of words
flies past
my house



the sky
is just
a blueprint



I find an old smile
I left in a box
up in the attic
I dust it off
and put it on



I keep an imaginary cat
who hunts for dreams
at night
and leaves them
under my bed



I spot a crow
who may or may not be
the same crow
I talked to yesterday
or the day before



cherry blossoms
in the rain
even the mud is beautiful



coyote
at my back door
in his teeth
all the memories
I buried in the desert



I listen
to a violet
talking with the sunrise
in the secret language
of purple



do not let
your heart
be the urn
that keeps
your own ashes



I learned
compassion
by holding a honeybee
(who did not sting me)
in my hands



bumblebee
leaves a haiku
in my ear



this world is a hive
I poke with a stick
sometimes, there’s honey
sometimes
just bees



I walked
to where I wasn’t
and now I am



so much sunshine
I walk
deep into the woods
to keep the darkness
company



crow
finds a place to sleep
between two stars



all the things
you think
you’re going to get done
(and then
a bird sings)



through the fence
the dog next door
writes a haiku



butterfly
scrapes off a bit of blue
from the sky



no wind
the windchimes
just listen



outside
she complained
that she never gets flowers
standing
in a sea of violets



all these colors
caught up
in being flowers



some of me
goes home
most of me
wanders off
deep in the woods