Littoral
sitting by a cliff
to escape the heat
I am resolved to find
the bottom of the possible
a wren tells me
the sea’s too tedious
but I have lost myself
in the sand
Contemplative poems
Contemplative poems — a collection of the best works on PoemShip.
Listen to yourself
hard to hear ourselves
to sit inside the music of us
half echo
half mango
to go
off
Memory loss
I now learn many things
which I forget
the fruit we bear
after our execution
I take a red inventory
of oaths and places
though this old man tells me
believe nothing
Respite
the clock had no time
to answer to
under the sea
naked as the hole in an ear
I am old like that
high up in a birch
the questions are enough
to carry home
Influencer
noon is a black box
the same box my face
is often in
when weary of sitting
I sing
to a laughing no one
Cutaway
a kiss is more mighty
than the news
I hear words dissolve
and a crow unravel an anthem
I make my journal
out of the whole journey
One, two
morning like a gold chain
noon like a roundhouse
Weight-loss program
to become thin
I wed my bones to the road
today’s new yesterday
is a cross
a dark and dirty supper
for the eyes
Polyphony
church might have
an acquaintance with rain
for singing with many voices
is not singing
but a sort of instrumental music
words lost by being heard
in the style of scripture
Missing the small picture
joy will settle
for any crow
which I think
I never did see
for all the liberty I give
my weak eyes
Acting my age
I have no lies for a dog
no alteration but play
for others weary
as office business
I play the age tune
and keep time
Self-knowledge
no teaching will promise
I shall obtain
what I am
a table for one
my own drink
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