screams

prison cell - 4 am : screams are louder than dreams

walking shoes/ sturdy souls

Walking shoes offered to those with sturdy souls.

who will free the jailers?

the last guest gone: who will free jailers, now?

Resurrrection

smell of fresh coffee: resurrection

his sailor's smile

waving to the crowds/ 
he flashes his sailor's smile/ 

that bright November

To the spirit of the people of the Philippines

A sea of troubles: yet they cling to hope, life

Kristallnacht

heavy rain falling on cobblestones: the sound of gunfire, broken glass

The Vietnam Memorial in the autumn of our lives

we make a rubbing of his name on the black granite wall and holding back tears, we ask why?

fragile beauty

her long eyelashes so delicate, her pretty pink nails, so exquisite -- this preemie is going to make it.

Suicide among returning veterans

in an SRO, a body in battledress found -- 'friendly fire,'

Gambol of Otters

gambol of otters on the banks of a river: summer pleasures

Charley King, 49th Pennsylvania Volunteers

who beats the drum for Charley King/ dead at thirteen/ bloody Antietam

5774

soon, from a ram's horn, a call to prayer for some, the rebirth of the world for all

early morning sun

the sun: so early in the morning, its rays, too, are sleepy

still waiting for the river to crest

first a trickle, then a stream, soon an overflowing river: justice

adulterer

under the full moon's unblinking stare, he hides his face

dream

whose dream was it; the butterfly's or elder Zhuangzi's ?

August's sun

August's sun: dogs our every move

Hungry Ghosts

hungry ghosts search out the living: 8:16 local time, Hiroshima

Buddha's fasting

his hunger leaves an imprint - buddha's fasting

Sunday picnic

that last slice of watermelon -- the final act of a Sunday picnic - no fanfare needed.

Slaughter of the Innocents

their eyes, their sad, doomed eyes: ten children killed by Castro's goons, July 13, 1994

natural chimes

Wind trapped by a sea grape bush: so musical

a castle breached

wet beach sand: remnants of a castle breached by a patient invader

Kaguyama

Mist shrouded Kaguyama: early in the morning; a glimpse of heaven

fellow travelers

fellow travelers: we pause to rest, my shadow and me

Crickets

Before dawn: crickets fiddle hidden by cattails

Silence

Silence : before the alarm clock rings and the world waiting to be born

Passing railroad cars

stuck waiting at a railroad crossing;  I, 2, ... 99, 100, 101.....

Reflections

overflowing pools of blue waters -- trap our reflections

rattle & dorje

a baby's rattle: powerful as a dorje

Mist

mist over a lake
hides the shore from boaters
oblivion

slices of green apple: so tart and so cold

a fiscal cliff avoided -- maybe

that one last step off  a precipice: not taken