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
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.