andy bondi
from 52 Poems-norcal images
Late summer night
almost autumn almost cool
deer in the garden
rumor of mountain lion
rumor of fox
________
End of gravel logging road
a remnant old growth stand
no men
no women
_______
Jumbled granite stones
one on the other
in the shadows
yearling trout point upstream
fluid hard matter of water
raining down
Learning to breathe
Learning to fall, turning slightly
as I plummet
and focus on the greenery as it unfolds
Learning the scale of the seasonal moon
shadows in the darkness
and silent birds by the thousands
alive on the thin wires tied to our wrists
Learning to recognize tombs among the stones
Learning where the angels hold hands
their footprints outlined in the soft moss
Learning where to wait, where to listen
when to stop
Learning to take from the lake
the launch of the crane
infinite neck and blue wings
focused against a thin moon
Learning to swim, breath water
wait for the vision
which takes me back to the beginning
and I’ll get another chance
I’ll get another chance
Learning to crush a violet between thumb and palm
Learning that crushed flowers may
or may not be
an apt metaphor
crush flowers anyway
Learning to pray by dreaming backwards
Learning to walk through fire and mud
while waking to the sound of still air
Learning to listen to pebbles as they bump one another
in the shallow waves
Learning to spot loneliness
and, in a disciplined manner
respond only with touch or music
Finally the tide comes in
There is a young girl playing in the sand
The tide drives her up the beach
toward the sea wall
where her mother is reading
a newspaper
The small girl, she cant be more than 3 years old
is right up against the sea wall
Her mother is there
The mother drops her paper
and the little girl, she
is no older than 3
lays her head
on her mothers lap
and sleeps
from BAJA
Washed by rain
I stand naked in the chill
and rename my clothes
one by one
light
wet Clay
wood
red Camellia
_______________________
What is ahead
perfectly round stones
border a rain dotted sea
_______________________
A black crow
stands on the top
of an open red door
a thousand miles away
it is morning