My Poems in Woodnotes

#3, Autumn 1989

chinook wind

the smell of

melting snow

#4. Winter 1990

harbour lights

the smell of fish

and fishermen

• “The Frayed Rope” haiku appreciation essay

#5, Spring 1990

redwood wind

and a rushing stream—

one sound

into the cave

     high tide

          spring moon

• “Out of Cassiopeia” review of a book by Charles B. Dickson

#6, Summer 1990

after the funeral

changing her cat calendar

in mid month

midsummer dawn

       the scarecrow’s

              unbuttoned shirt

#7, Autumn 1990

through the birches

       a zig-zag trail

              holds a dragonfly

at his favourite deli

the bald man finds a hair

in his soup

• “Zen and the Art of Direct Seeing: Cultivating the Haiku Moment” essay

• “Hundreds of Wishes” review of a book by Francine Porad

#8, Winter 1991

dreaming of spring

I shake the snow

from this pine

where the hobo sleeps

beyond the moonlight . . .

a blowing newspaper

• In a review of Tremors (Press Here, 1991):

after the quake

the weathervane

pointing to earth

looking up from rubble—

first ray of morning

beyond dark hills

aftershocked

#9, Spring/Summer 1991

• “Two Autumns Reading Series” report

in the shade of beech trees—

green moss of spring

on an old wooden dory

#10, Autumn 1991

• “Haiku North America Conference Report”

             [published anonymously, but written by me]

harvest moon—

the white spot

on the black cat

#11, Winter 1991

summer stillness—

       a blade of fresh cut grass

              unbends

#12, Spring 1992

• “Darkened by Shadow” haibun

#13, Summer 1992

dust hovers above the road at sunset

#14, Autumn 1992

autumn moon—

     a silver leaf      folds

          over the weir

• “Japanese Renku Group Visits San Francisco” report

(written with Ebba Story)

#15, Winter 1992

a week after New Year’s—

a trail of pine needles

out to the trash

empty silo—

       spring wind pops the metal

              in and out

             [in book review]

#16, Spring 1993

summer stillness—

a bamboo leaf

on the turtle’s back

this cold lonely night

without you, with no chance

of seeing you again,

how I wish

I could turn off the moon

• “Drawings Among Haiku” review of a book by Ion Codrescu

• “Tanka Splendor 1992” review of a book edited by Jane Hirshfield

• “Waterlily Shadows” review of a book by Margaret Molarsky

#17, Summer 1993

no mail today . . .

tracks of rain on the window

changing direction

a snail has left

its delicate silver trail

on my book of love poems

left out on your porch

overnight

#18, Autumn 1993

• “A Perspective on Haiku North America 1993” report

spring breeze—

       flowers

              in the folds of your skirt

so lonely

again this night . . .

the moonlight

spills over the levee

toward your street

#19, Winter 1993

still fluttering

in the mountain wind,

a thousand paper cranes

hung on the pine

by your window

spring breeze—

the pull of her hand

as we near the pet store

• “The Woodnotes Survey Summarized” report

#20, Spring 1994

• “Rengay: An Introduction” essay

• “A Rain of Leaves” rengay with Donna [later Claire] Gallagher and Pat Gallagher

tonight only a pair doves

has come to my window’s shelter

and beside my still-made bed

I have watched

he raindrops fall

          dashing from your car—

summer hail

       streaks my shirt

#21, Summer 1994

I tell her I grow old

have a paunch and need new clothes

that the wild geese have flown

and winter is approaching

—my mother laughs

sun on the rain spout . . .

      shadows

from peeling paint

noon sun—

the curve of wet sand

around a glass float

             [in book review]

#22, Autumn 1994

    floating down the stream

               petals

                          swept

from the summer-house deck

trimming my nails

on a summer afternoon,

I think of you—

yesterday you told me

you just cut your hair

#23, Winter 1994

a swirl of snow—

she lifts her hair

out of her sweater

• “Christmas in the City” rengay with Jim Force (Nika) and vincent tripi (presented with calligraphy and illustrations by Carolyn Fitz)

#24, Spring 1995

cleaning the bedroom—

the warmth of her shirt

left in the sun

rain streaks the window—

an old phone book

burning in the stove

#25, Summer 1995

• “The ‘Ordinary’ Haiku Poet” essay

how much heavier

       after morning mist—

her jeans on the line

a clean towel

from the linen closet—

smell of scented candles

#26, Autumn 1995

leash on a nail—

snowmelt

in the dog dish

flowering plum—

the overnight rain

has taken the blossoms

• “Haiku Poets of Northern California 1995 Rengay Contest” results and commentary

#27, Winter 1995

my hand curves

      to fit your breast . . .

the windowsill, snow-laden

winter wind—

kite string tangled

in the garden trellis

#28, Spring 1996

golden sun

still in the waving wheat

at twilight

drifting

      into the moon

toy sailboat

#29, Summer 1996

summer afternoon—

the worm in the robin’s beak

still twisting

taking invisible tickets

at the foot of the basement stairs—

child’s magic show

#30, Autumn 1996

the black cricket—

        louder

in my rusted pail

fading sunset . . .

    icicles

on a wasp nest

• “Skipping Stones” rengay with Kenneth Tanemura

#31, Autumn 1997

words do not come

for you

on your passing

till the first warm day

      the blossoming plum

             (for Pat Shelley)

horse dust settles

      the wet end

      of a snapped sapling

first snow—

the random tracks

of Canada geese

• “Uh-Huh” rengay with Lee Gurga