Hallway to Nowhere

  • Amidst It All, Peace -APEC Edit (Poem)

    when the ground shakes in these uncertain times

    when the house no longer shelters from the moment’s storms

    when the heart breaks from all it’s asked to carry

    when tears fall faster than the flooding rain

    let us hold each other

    enfolded in the expanse of silent regard

    with spacious kindness for all grief

    be a staff in the fog that surrounds the day

    a gentle warmth in night’s approaching chill

    we have mourned so many deaths and died so many times

    we have loved so much and given to each other in different ways

    this is now familiar space

    no presumption to guide, no offer but this

    let us walk together at our own pace

    let us walk together in peace

  • Mirror Image Thought Experiment

    Invitation: Participate in a thought experiment virtually 

    What: Look into a mirror. Write a few words about what you see in the mirror or feelings/thoughts that arise or even memories that might arise. Anything you wish to note. Any comments, unless marked PRIVATE, will become fodder for poems. 

    Why: About 7 years ago, one of my teachers, a Rinpoche, remarked that none of us has ever seen our own face. So I decided to do an organized event and play publicly with this notion. Art is always more fun in collab!

    When: Oct 18-Nov 18, 2025. The event will take place over 1 month. Should I get decent work out of this, I’ll publish these in a small limited run of a chapbook  and offered for sale, ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO KUNPEN.NGALSO.ORG . 

     I do not profit from my work!

    Send me a message or leave a note in my studio

    Mirror Image Thought Experiment

  • Because And Yet (Poem)

    because I still do not know these things

    how I exist at all

    (I die every so often or each moment, take your pick)

    how communication works

    (I can speak face to face but otherwise am lost)

    how to move about

    (I am gawkily awkward as if I’m always in a strange land)

    and yet a friend will text at 2:55 am

    with a reminder that I’m thought of

    my presence wanted in some other place

    so I make a playlist to send in my stead

    and sit here in amazement

    I’ll always be startled by evidence of love

  • Tea and Moon (Poem)

    on the surface of the tea, a moon

    tilt the cup, pour it into your hand

    gently gently hold it there

    resting in silent contemplation

    fold it into your heart

    it has always been there

    shining unseen on a hidden shelf

    behind the little stones we gather

    to throw in all directions but mostly back at ourselves

    not realizing these conceal such light

    don’t forget to finish the tea

    wash the cup and put it away

    who knows what the next time will bring

  • Home Remains (Poem)

    the house burned and walls fell

    he and his friends rebuilt it

    sweating under the hot summer sun

    drinking bottles of cold beer

    smoking cigarettes and telling tales

    they joked the house would die again

    wagered it would be by flood

    placing a few bets no one would recover

    then vanished after the project was done

    their words proved true one hurricane season

    the road and land itself were gone

    but to this day in the tail of August

    the scent of salt, beer, and smoke

    and the murmur of laughing conversation

    bring me back home and remind me

    that houses are not meant to last

    Home Remains (Poem)

  • A Measured Return (Poem)

    what and when and where

    breath each breath one breath only

    a moment catches the attention

    mind at ease spacious aware

    curious about what is

    stories fabricated as the web of the world

    loosely so see them as just that

    playful movement to a song

    each hears alone dancers pacing out the turn

    what step what gesture what note

    what now

  • Death Leads (Poem)

    they crowd the street corners

    line the sidewalks

    talking shouting carrying signs

    it’s coming watch don’t wait

    do something now

    death laughs and says

    I’m here with you in every moment

    dressed in a pinstriped suit

    slouching by in that torn coat

    waving from the passing car

    the red jam on your plate

    will be your blood

    the coffee left in your cup

    your grave’s mud

    until then we dance

    you thinking you lead

    but the skeletal beat and timed out thrum

    give lie to this for you know

    you have always known

    the two step has to end

  • In The Evening, The Sky (Poem)

    clouds amass in the west

    dark with promise of rainfall

    bruised by too much possibility

    shot through with the sun’s brilliant wane

    we wait under the threat

    heaviness pressing upon our bodies

    burdened by hope tied up in time’s passage

    our hearts always reaching upwards

    and if we grasp those white threads of light

    where will we climb

    what will we do

  • Leaf, Fallen

    blood-red stem a narrow thread

    to which origin shall we return

    darker veins web the blades

    do we feel the flow and ebb within

    scarlet hues shade throughout

    what shadows similarly tint our heart

    we ourselves will one day rest just so

    will such beauty be our display

    yes and yes and yes

  • The Abandoned Lot (Poem)

    broken bench in the field

    stone birdbath in pieces

    some few half-buried paving tiles

    dreams collapse all the time

    this cannot be done

    that will not happen

    whatever this or that might be

    grieve not for the fall

    no failure this passage

    beauty abides in fallow ground

    peace in just this moment