She has put the child to sleep

And now washes the clothes;

The summer moon.  -- Issa

All we considered: 

Became two small bags on the

Pristine, sunlit floor.  --  Kido Listenbee  (for August 22)

One more dead calm day

I listen to the wind chimes

I smacked with a broom.  —  Billy Collins

I regret squashing

the spider that crawled into

our sink for a drink.

—Anne Steel

Rain dropping from leaves

A vast unspoken language

Becomes one with me.  -  Dogen

Black and white photos

Slowly revealing in time

Rainbows of color  -  Kido Listenbee, July 2022

Small Town

An old dog stops traffic

Both ways  --  Devar Dahl

Living alone now

Her heart makes room for others

To expand their own.  --  kido listenbee, June 2022

Grass, mist rising
not a voice over the water
The day has ended.  --  Busan

Tree rubbing the roof. 

The balm of two things mixing. 

Spring breeze arriving. --  Gen Ju Reithel, June 2022

Don't worry spiders,

I keep house

Casually -- Issa

My husband's mom took

spider outside to let them

go.  Now I do too.  --  Anne Steel, June 2022

My husband’s mom took

spiders outside to let them

go. Now I do too.

                    --Anne Steel

Did it yell

'til it became all voice?

Cicada shell!  --  Basho 

Sheen off the surface

Burns away all vision

Letting the water speak.  --  Kido Listenbee, May 2022

Jump over clouds

Into the sky and

You'll see the moon despite the rain.  -  Shihgematsu

Jump, run spring!

Three robins in somber coats

With vests of burnt sienna.  -  Kido Listenbee, April 2022

Be a child; forget and

Get going.  Life's woes are transient,

Moving clouds.  -  Usha Meenakshi

Digging in the dirt

Millipedes on her fingers.

Right here, a wonder!  -  Gen Ju Reithel, April 2022

-- for this small beetle

-- a lifetime on one tree trunk

-- everything is there.  -  Edith Shiffert

Gently we carried

the stunned wasp outside -- there it

can revive itself.  -  Anne Steel, April 2022

A world of dew

within every drop a world of struggle  -  Issa

Descent through whiete clouds

reveals a still, blue lake

Where my friend savors life. 

                         -  Anne Steele, December 2021

Was it light within?

Stillness becoming alive,

[Was it] Light within light? [Yet] still?  -Theodore Roethke

Am I strong enough?

And am I humble right now?

Why me?  And why not?   -  Kido Listenbee, December 2021

Life's little, our heads

sad.  Redeemed and wasting clay

this chance.  Be of use.  -   Ravi Shankar

Wrinkles on her face

speak of loss, love and wonder

Words are not needed.  Anne Steel, November 2021

a hundred gourds

from the heart

of one vine  -  Chiyo-ni

Each bite of apple

Orchard in every season

The core in my palm  -  Gen Ju Reithel, November 2021

Flight of the sea birds

Scattered like lost words

Wheel to the storm and fly.  -  John Perry Barlow

In passionate seas

May we swim in compassion

Below the surface.  -  Kido Listenbee, November 2021

Over the wintry forest

Leaves howl in rage

With no leaves to blow.  -  Natsume Soseki

The numerous leaves

All shining and quivering

The breeze on my face.  - Gen Ju Reithel, October 2021

Together let us eat

Ears of wheat,

Sharing at night a grass pillow.  -  Basho

In a heavy sack

He bore sweet ripe persimmons

To delight his wife.  -  Anne Steel, October 2021

In response to things, forms appear.

Thus is the moon in water, in mind.  -  Dogen

The price we [humans]

often pay for consciousness

is inattention.  -  Verlyn Klinkenburg

Uphill full speed eyes

down,  Deep green all round, unseen.

Old woman!  Slow down!  - Kido Listenbee, Sept., 2021

The light of a candle

Is transferred to another candle

Spring twilight  -  Buson

Hike your own hike! Say

Experienced travelers on the

Appalachian Trail  -  Anne Steel, Sept., 2021

Stirring my coffee

every which way:  Flamenco!  -  Sheila K. Barksdale

Synchronous Fireflies

Flash on - off - on - off - on -  offf

Wond'rous unison!  -  Anne Steel, Sept., 2021

Now the ears of my ears awake.

Now the eyes of my eyes are opened.  -  e.e. cummings

Y'all want something to

Make you feel good, and nothing

To make you live good!  -  Rev. Annie Higgenbottom

When necessary,

I played with the lion, but

When not, I left it.  -  Ungan

Cardinals courting,

Roadside, suddenly fly to

Two separate trees.  -  Kido LIstenbee, June-July, 2021

Lighting one candle

With another candle --

Spring evening.  -  Buson

The full moon rested

Early morning on the

Roof of our house.  -  Anne Steel, June-July 2021

Taking a nap,

Feet planted

Against a cool wall  -  Basho

Resting in the vase

The silence of the blossom

Calling out to life  -  Gen Ju Reithel, June-July, 2021