Dispersing Envy

A quiet morning
December stillness and cold
Fog upon the snow

Looking out the kitchen window
With her cup of breakfast tea

Some vitamin C
And some other supplements
Taken at each meal

He has begun to feel
That they are growing apart

With the wind they start
To scatter and disappear --
Apple blossoms fall

Outside of the new mall
Teenagers are gathering

The light of evening
Just after the sun has set
Lingers with the heat

The novice on her retreat
Recites the prayers for the Hour

There is a power
Silent and unobtrusive
Deep within the heart

"Let me help you with your cart,
That looks awfully heavy."

Dispersing envy
Through common acts of kindness
Recall where we are

With bare branches and the stars
The half-full October moon

As Night Begins

Dusk
Slow
Days end
At the store
I turn out the lights
I make sure that I lock the door

A Vision

Melodies fall from the clouds
Streams of stars flow through the glen
On a branch of the oak tree
There's an angel now and then

Nightscape

The pine tree waltzes
Beside the granite still pond
The warmth of starlight

The End Of Idolatry

Brief
The lives
Of nations;
They don't survive
(Though they try and strive)
The ravages of time.
Nations are not a refuge,
They turn into dust and refuse,
Shards placed under a museum's dome;
Only the eternal is our true home.

Heartscape

Warm days in winter
The sky is cloudless
I begin to pray
God's love is boundless

Dawnscape

Cool
Thin clouds
 5 A.M.
A bright full moon
Slowly descending --
The first hint of sunlight
Pales the few remaining stars
In an hour the moon will be gone
Like the moments of this silent dawn
Like the last notes of a solo flute's song

Intersection

The silent traffic
Crossing the polluted stream
Herds of ghost mammoths

A Message From Far Away

Blues
Guitar
Melody
The soaring voice
Caresses a note
Turning it in the air
Like catching a ray of sun
As it mingles with a warm wind
Whose origin is a distant land
Located somewhere south of memory

On Impermanence

This
Will fade
Ev'rything
Will disappear
Like all that you hear,
Like the sound of a bell,
A receding ocean swell,
A story that you once heard tell,
The last remnants of a tree that fell,
Or an old fear that is finally quelled,
Shattered when touched by the omnipresent spell
Cast upon the currents of the rivering world

Overwhelmed

Life is more complicated ev'ry day,
I do not understand why this is so
And though I try and try to simplify
Duties accumulate like drifts of snow

Why I Go To Meeting For Worship Every First Day (aka Sunday)

I forget
About God
In this world
God seems odd

After Receiving The News

In war
He died
Somewhere
She cries

Bitter

After all these years
You say you want to 'make up' --
The winter silence

Axiom

The sun rises late,
The days are brief, the air cold,
The solstice draws near

Hanukkah candles for sale
On display at the bookstore

There are more and more
Cards for every occsion
For all of our needs

A thought resembles a seed
In the garden of the heart

Plum blossoms restart
The cycle of the seasons
The cycle of time

Searching for the perfect rhyme
To mark the line and rhythm

The new axiom --
The professor finds its place
In the house of thought

All this work is not for naught
If we can share our journey

"You're good company,
Let's spend more time together,
After summer's through."

A correspondence ensues
Via nightly emails

As the moon sails,
Pacing its monthly phases,
Its light ebbs and grows

Autumn tells us what we know;
Space is vast and deep and kind

Oops!

Dear Friends:

I had alredy posted 'Afternoon' earlier this year.  Sorry about that.

So I'm following up with another Renga for your reading pleasure titled 'Axiom'.

Thanks,

Jim