Will I Continue?

Last day of the year,
Last haiku poem to write,
Until tomorrow?

Grace

As long as I'm here
And living in gratitude,
My heart is healing.

Living

How then shall you live?
Remembering what you love,
Doing what matters.

Maybe ... Maybe Not

A dark drive to work,
Light rain is falling again --
Has winter arrived?

Night Visitor

Night light comes on,
Outside I see a possum
And he looks at me.


I open the door
which hits my big forehead hard --
No blood, just a bruise.


Where's the possum now?
Hiding somewhere and laughing
About clumsy guys.

A Day At A Time

Momento mori,
It's time to number your days --
Know that you will die.

Remembering

On our Christmas day
No mother to call this year,
She died on May 1st.

Who Knows?

Riding the bus south
On the way home for Christmas,
Will it be my last?

Cooper's Day

On his sixth birthday
He lost his first tooth ever,
Celebrate the boy!

Portland Bound

Riding the bus north,
Going to grandson's birthday --
It will be his sixth.

Ready To Go

Packing my suitcase,
Filling it with Christmas gifts,
Birthday presents, too.

Running Out of Haiku Days

Eleven days left
To write my daily haiku,
A year of poems.

Done!

Finished the shopping,
Finished all the gift wrapping --
Ready for Christmas!

Still Here

Fourteen years ago
Prognosis was five year's left --
Miracle patient!

The Photo*

Contemplative face
"ponders all things in her heart."
Wonder who she is?

*  Reading Patricia Hampl

Forget the Knife!

Moving precisely,
Her intelligent fingers
Spread peanut butter.

Waiting ...

Alone in our bed
Without the warmth my love,
She will be here soon.

My Turn

Locked out of the house,
Can't find the key anywhere.
It must be inside!

Hanging Decorations

Don't spin it around,
That's my only instruction --
The lights are plugged in.


Instructions ignored --
Had to spin the tree around,
Which took the lights down.


String the lights again,
Wrap them around and around --
Plug them in your way.

Coldest Day ... So Far

Twenty-one degrees --
Scraping frost off car windows,
Crank up the heater!

Night Meditation

Lying next to her,
As I listened to her breathe,
My breath went to sleep.

Her Phone Message

Locked out of the house
With no key to get back in --
Please come open it.

Anita's Night

Art Show Opening --
Mixed media assemblage
With music and wine.

In My Dream ...

I received a call:
"Lost in Pennsylvania,"
She said, "Come find me."

Where Is It?

Where do you call home?
"Place" doesn't really matter;
Home is in our minds.

An Editorial Cartoonist's Dream

Arrogant bully,
A hyperactive ego --
Looks a lot like Newt!

Shunryu Suzuki Says ...

Come sit in your chair --
What's most important in life?
To quiet the mind.

Sweet Connection

My hand caresses
the softness of her belly --
Spooning in the dark.

The Unbearable Nonsense of Being

She has her worries
And he worries about that --
None of it matters!

Brain Song*

A chorus murmured --
"Charity begins at home."
Snapshot in my mind.

*Reading Patricia Hampl

Smell of Words*

Walk the garden paths,
Crushing the thyme underfoot,
Scent rushed to my nose.

* Reading Patricia Hampl