Thursday, May 28, 2009

ADIOS

Photo by S. Auberle
Off to the desert for a few days,
Adios, compadres...
~mimi

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

AT SUNSET

Photo by S. Auberle
at sunset
two night herons
waiting for fish...
absolute stillness
except
for the sound
of a yellow ball
rolling
into the lake
~mimi

Saturday, May 23, 2009

CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Photo by S. Auberle

Were these poems written by me in the year 2009?
Or by Izumi Shikibu in the year 1050 in Japan?
Who can tell?
Across time and space we are one...
Come quickly
as soon as these blossoms open
they fall.
This world exists
as a sheen of dew on flowers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However wildly
this year's cherry blossoms bloom,
I'll see them
with the plum's scent
filling my heart.
~ Izumi Shikibu
The Ink Dark Moon
Translated by
Jane Hirschfield with Mariko Aratani

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A LOOK INSIDE

Photo by S. Auberle
"Your vision will become clear
only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens."
~ Carl Jung

Thursday, May 14, 2009

A WOMAN'S PRAYER

Photo by S. Auberle
o let me remember
how light seduces my tulips
each morning, and
how they open their bodies
wide and without shame
let me not forget
that red-winged blackbird
singing up dawn
or the look of last night's rain
glittering this hour
on new grass
a green so intense
i'm almost blinded
and may i never, never forget
the taste of oranges
with cinnamon tea
or how, each morning
i fall madly in love...
and listen, please
when the time comes
know that i will not
wish for wings
or streets paved with gold
but only this...
to remain here
bedazzled
~mimi

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

POETRY ON POETRY

Photo by S. Auberle
fading petals
old lace
blues
in shades of red...
~ mimi

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

WORDSWORTH

Photo by S. Auberle
I wandered lonely as a cloud
that floats on high o'er vales and hills
when all at once I saw a crowd,
a host of golden daffodils
beside the lake, beneath the trees,
fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
~ William Wordsworth

Saturday, May 09, 2009

MOM

Photographer Unknown
LEGACY
What my mother left me
was not dancing shoes
or diamond rings
or bad luck with men.
It was the way she stood
so straight
barely reaching my shoulder
but tall
on days when life
bends most people low
and that quickstep of hers
forward always
to music only she could imagine.
(from my book: Saturday Nights at the Crystal Ball)
Happy Mother's Day, Mom, wherever you are...I miss you.
And thanks, Laurie and David, for giving me the joys of being
mom--and grandma to all those short people. I love you...

Thursday, May 07, 2009

FOG

Photo by S. Auberle
early morning fog
sound of owl in wet trees
bread and tea
this moment
that will not return
ever
heat rises from the tea
from me
how to hold
this warmth
forever?
~mimi

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Song of Songs

Photo by S. Auberle
"My beloved spake, and said unto me,
rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth,
the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
the fig tree putteth forth her green figs,
and the vine with the tender grape
gives a good smell.
Arise my love, my fair one, and come away.
~ Song of Songs
Verses 10-13

Saturday, May 02, 2009

FIRST DANDELION

Photo by S. Auberle
first dandelion appeared today
one only
in the entire acre yard
I want to know
what makes this flower so bold
this need to be first
the alpha dandelion
is it a teenage male
whirling in weed testosterone?
an athletic blossom
hopped up on steroids?
a quiet Zen sort of plant
no worries, mon, no rain,
no snow, only now
this moment...
or
a poet sort of flower
lost in its own little darkness
dreamily watching
earthworms inch by
considering the meaning
of upward thrusting tulips
unaware
of the hour, the day, the season...
~ mimi