Moonku
The following are selected poems relating to the moon, mostly haiku and senryu, but also including one tanka, a solo rengay, and one longer poem. I read these poems at the annual Moon Viewing Festival at the Seattle Japanese Garden on 6 September 2014, at which I also cojudged the garden’s annual haiku contest. All poems are previously published.
still water—
the blue heron
steps in the moon +
full moon at midnight—
a barn owl glides
out of the slaughterhouse
cool summer night—
a full moon
frames the bird feeder
beneath the moon
the heron’s slow step
towards frog sound + +
blue moon—
drips from the awning
keeping time
moonless night—
her guard dog barks
at the new husband
ringing church bell—
moonlight dimmed
by a gentle snowfall
the clackity-clack
of the last roller-coaster—
a crescent moon
moonlight breeze
young leaves
barely waving
summer moonlight
the potter’s wheel
slows
I am awake tonight
not because of a bright moon
or lovesickness,
but mere insomnia—and you,
you would not care the reason
brighter
than the bonfire
moon in the sand
my window opens . . .
a hundred frogs
sing to the moon
almost faded
into sunlight
old moon
day moon—
the prize pumpkin
lifted to the pickup
rain again . . .
the moon brightens
the cloud’s other side
Night Flight
full moon— +
along the runway
blue lights begin to blur
turning after takeoff
the moon disappears under the wing
for a moment below
in the Mississippi,
a white oval
the seat-belt sign
blinks back on with a beep—
the moon lost in clouds
in-flight magazine:
a four-letter word for lunar
movie over,
the moon lightens
the snow-capped mountains
Jim’s Jelly
The jar of jelly is Jim’s gift to me, +
unexpected after he reads his poems, tells a few stories—
a gift like a wren that flits from musky rafters
to rest on my outstretched finger.
It’s a gift like this afternoon when my son said,
when he’s older, he’ll be able to reach the moon.
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