Lincoln?He was a mystery in smoke and flagsSaying yes to the smoke, yes to the flags,Yes to the paradoxes of democracy,Yes to the hopes of governmentOf the people by the…

For the gladness here where the sun is shining at          evening on the weeds at the river,     Our prayer of thanks. For the laughter of children who tumble barefooted and          bareheaded in…

SMOKE of autumn is on it all.The streamers loosen and travel.The red west is stopped with a gray haze.They fill the ash trees, they wrap the oaks,They make a long-tailed…

In the old wars drum of hoofs and the beat of shod feet.In the new wars hum of motors and the tread of rubber tires.In the wars to come silent…

SOMEWHERE you and I remember we came.Stairways from the sea and our heads dripping.Ladders of dust and mud and our hair snarled.Rags of drenching mist and our hands clawing, climbing.You…

IA STORM of white petals,Buds throwing open baby fistsInto hands of broad flowers. IIRed roses running upward,Clambering to the clutches of lifeSoaked in crimson. IIIRabbles of tattered leavesHolding golden flimsy…

THEN came, Oscar, the time of the guns.And there was no land for a man, no land for a country,  Unless guns sprang up  And spoke their language.The how of running the…

THERE will be a rusty gun on the wall, sweetheart,The rifle grooves curling with flakes of rust.A spider will make a silver string nest in the darkest, warmest corner of…

HOKUSAI’S portrait of himselfTells what his hat was likeAnd his arms and legs. The only facesAre a river and a mountainAnd two laughing farmers.    The smile of Hokusai  is under his hat.

AM I the river your white birds fly over?Are you the green valley my silver channels roam?The two of us a bowl of blue sky day time and a bowl…