Peace

after the bowl sings
so peacefully sits the monk
in meditation
–
calm water
reflective of
inner peace

snowy egrets stand
in the salt marsh, motionless
hunting careless fish
–
cattails
swaying in the
warm salt breeze

spying Earth from space
a hard reminder of our
insignificance
–
a sand grain
amidst the
multitude

concentric ripples
spreading across the surface
of a misty lake
–
lakeshore
a striped bass
breaks the surface

the spinning wheel turns
fingers idly making thread
while the mind wanders
–
adrift
on a sea
of imagination

the weathered old man
makes peace with the universe
tending his bonsai
–
fiddlehead ferns-
seeking god in
the golden ratio

blinded by hatred
enrobed in the ignorance
of what love can be
–
midnight-
groping for
the light

the wellspring of souls
beckons inexorably
for us to return
–
the bodisattfa
compassionately
delays nirvana

after a brief rest
a bevy of mourning doves
suddenly takes flight
–
released
upon wings
across the sun
dedicated to Philip Rigney

a warm summer night
the plaintive cries of a fox
echo from the woods
–
a burrow
tail wrapped
around her kits