In A Blink

As I wonder about the wonder that 

surrounds me, and ponder my place

amidst its ubiquity. My questions

are myriad, the answers elusive.

Maybe that's how it should be. What

comes easy can go away in a blink.

Cattle Trails

I remember the cattle trails of my youth

worn smooth by many hooves and easy

to follow. They were often a road home

from the fishing pond for a barefoot boy.

The cattle had a reason for the paths they

chose, and once chosen they became the

way to traverse the hills and hollows they

grazed. Those narrow threads through the

bahia grass each had a beginning and end,

forks and cross paths. I realize now that

they were teaching me not only about 

cattle, but about who I was and am now.

Autumn Chorus

 Darkness comes earlier, soon

the tree frogs will serenade

the river birch is dropping

golden leaves, the crepe myrtle

as beautiful bare as bedecked

in blossoms, a wren makes one

last search of the maple for an

aphid, nearby an owl calls sadly

Empty Mind

Can it be that I know all

that I have seen and heard

that what I have experienced

is who I am and am not

that a falling leaf can teach what

many scholars disregard

I can be content with an empty mind

or with the knowledge of a sage

to desire one above the other

is to be unknown to one's self