Pink Camellia

Pink Camellia
Originally uploaded by vajra.

cold rain beating down
early afternoon headlights
camellias forgotten

Haiga

temperature drops
bringing the collar up
parrots flying by

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Tuesday

rainy day
I shiver as I pass the
hot pink
camellia
the clumps of narcissus
flattened by the wind
The magnolias starting to bloom
despite the chill
my roses are starting to bud
enticed by the memory of
yesterday's sun
but today
my toes are cold

Fence #5

Fence #5
Originally uploaded by vajra.

wooden fences are rare
these
days

leaning is out of fashion
this
fence

leans one direction
then
another

tension keeps
things
upright

What I Saw

Aloe
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Forsythia's bright yellow branches
Deep red camellias
And snow on the nearby mountain

Yes We Can!

Barack won big in South Carolina today. Let's keep the momentum going: volunteer, write to your friends, give money. Stop the machine!

New Information

New Information
Originally uploaded by vajra.

I am going to use words
as weapons or bouquets
I am going to savor
the sound of vowels and consonants

c o n s t a n t l y

I am going to consume
reams of paper
I am going to sharpen
pencils quills my tongue

d e l i c i o u s l y

I've got a writing jones
and I'm
going to satisfy it
right

n o w

Backward Glance

It rained hard today
and last night
more rain expected tomorrow

no reason to get out of bed
and every reason to stay there
cold stiff and a cat sleeping on

the quilt at the foot of the bed

Backward Glance

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Cat Friday

Afternoon Cat
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Windblown Sky #1

Windblown Sky #1
Originally uploaded by vajra.

she was born
where she could claim
anonymity
separated from buildings
and other children

precise records
endless schedules
and meticulous "to do" lists
surrounded her like
hedges where nothing arrives

planted and trained
in such a way as to form a barrier
or to mark
the boundary of an area
she could fall in

and disappear
into
heartbreaking detail
keeping busy
beneath the windblown sky

Camellia #5

camellias bloom
in January cold
strong enough to bruise

Camellia #5
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Quilting

Isabella Chubby Cheeks
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Take one scrap of fabric
then another
piece them together
with small even stitches
repeat

repeat
again and again
until a pattern emerges
large enough to cover
the batting

then if the loft
is high enough
join the two pieces of
fabric
together

it's called
wedding ring

Dreams

I too
had them
pursued up marble steps or
in dusty bookstacks
for years and a day

at night they are still there
in bas-relief
or pentimento

Buddha

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Rev. Martin Luther King

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.


Rev. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

Listening

Listening to the sound
sound of the words
listening to my voice
the sound of my voice in my head

or thoughts
which is called
most formally
finding my voice
is it rhythm or tone or pattern
lost or merely unheard
disregarded
suppressed
or silenced

listening
quietly
eyes fixed
upon
the page

Lazy Afternoon

Lazy Afternoon
Originally uploaded by vajra.

If you need to learn
how to still
your monkey mind

sit for a while
watching
a cat

From the Café

From the Café
Originally uploaded by vajra.

I see the old classic façade
graceful repetition of window
after window
arched
rounded
numerous
a hymnody to money

Cat Friday

MacWorld 2008

Marge and I have just finished oohing and ahhing over the MacBook Air. I'm so there. Or I will be if someone gives me a cool 2 g. It's almost breathtaking. True no optical drive but remember when Steve stopped using the floppy drive? Everyone predicted it was the end of civilization as we know it. Guess what? The floppy is dead; long live wireless connectivity.

And the new backup device? Wow.

I love the new Apple products.

Eating well
drinking deeply
finding joy

Imagine
it's in the Bible
and it must be a commandment

Who knew?

San Rafael.jpg

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I Go Out Walking

McCroskey Photowalk #3
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Walking in the cemetery
Walking up Market
Photowalking
Walking with my baby
Walking down Market
Walking to the parking lot
Walking up the steps
Walking just another walk with thee
Walking after midnight
Walking on broken glass
Walking on pins and needles

But not getting very far

Cole Coffee #7

Cole Coffee #7
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Steamed windows
on a warm winter's day
Is it the coffee or the lover's gaze?

One woman says "Remind me to
stop reading after 30 minutes."
She has work to do.

We sit together cozy
with hot coffee and sweet rolls.
Watch my jelly roll, baby.

Another Haiku

Old Fence #1
Originally uploaded by vajra.

magnolias unfurl
slow buds holding pink and white
blue car roars by

Au Revoir

Au Revoir
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Is there space for a word
a sigh
here on this page

I fear to write for there is both
too much and
not enough to say

Perhaps I could send
a single blank page
with a silent seed

and you could answer
when the seed
became a flower

Deciduous

blue sky envelope
magnolia opening
an Oakland winter

Is This Even Close?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Je Suis Perdu

In My dream My dreamer
remembers another dream I had
She has My dreams
Her closet is filled with bags and valises
some of which she takes with her
some of which she forgets to take
some are empty
some contain memories
My cousin's doll is not in one of the suitcases
It was a talking doll
It doesn't make it into the dream except as memory
only two bags allowed on the dream plane
the rest of the emptiness
remains behind

Cat Friday

The World's Cutest Kitten
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Thursday Haiku

mist gathers as we walk
past stubborn red leaves hailing
tomorrow's blue bike

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Alcatraz #7
Originally uploaded by vajra.

I like cloudy days
and blustery days
even when there's no cocoa
I like cold days
and rainy days
even when there's no coffee

I'm a morning person but the morning doesn't have
to last
too long

The Gaze

Leda, taken unwillingly, fought both beak and wing
Europa gazed with fear at the receding sands knowing
the saffron breathed bull was all that she could cling to.
So, too, Antiope, fell in failure to the Satyr's loins.

But Miriam, peasant child, responded not with fear but with wonder
her gaze at first puzzled then assured
with one word:
Fiat!

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Canon In D Major

Leaves
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Sometimes I hear it
though it's rarely played
these days
the repetition fills me with sadness
I was so much younger then

younger than I was before or
after
like the light on the edge of the leaf
or the sound of the closing door

Storm

winter rains push the hillsides down
rivers of mud insist on entry
the houses clad in yellow tape
wait precariously for the uninvited guest
to move on

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Ere And Yet Anon

liquid amber leaves paper
the sidewalks
here and there
spiny green seed pods

January rain first
and then the café

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Café Haiku 2

rain falling sideways
empty chair in winter
waiting for coffee

Down Came the Rain

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Cat Friday

Camera Shy

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73%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Looking for x-ray technician training?

Café Haiku

plum scented rain
wood handled umbrella
opening to the doorway

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Precarious

On the first yesterday, I saw the year's new robin
just out of reach

Today you spoke of two playful squirrels
holding precariously to a branch
seemingly too small to hold their
weight.

Tomorrow I shall balance on my tiptoes
before I take
flight

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New Year's Day 2008

 

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