Su shi

reading entry for Su Shi,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
(click link for "poems")

"find a dentist you'll love -
live-help 24/7"

when looking for tide pools
best to know something
about tides.

(neckbone, 2009)
....................

Pt. Reyes Na. Seashore

dead seagull:

no eyes
no ears
no brain
no guts
no heart -

scavenged
by wily vulture.

(ji bo, 2009)





..................

slide down 101 through Sausalito
onto Golden Gate Bridge
city spread eagle
like illogical garden
of bleached whale bones;
pay toll, cut onto 19th Ave
Golden Gate Park
one inch ahead
of rush hour snarl.
I-280 South - Exit 92
Half Moon Bay to Peet's for caffiene;
when buzzed, further south on Route 1
hug coast to Pescadero -
artichoke ground zero.
Duarte's Tavern sits there
like a Hollywood set
waiting to fill your belly.

be hungry!*


*see suggested menu

(neckbone, 2009)
..................

suggested menu/Duarte's Tavern

sour dough bread (hot)
local table wine (no name grape)
red snapper (grilled)
mashed potatoes
broccoli (steamed, local)
fresh apricot cobbler (a la mode)

[Duarte's Tavern, Pescadero, California]

in high-slope California field
bull chews cud, fat
and lumpy torso-being:
Land Whale,
black hide tarnished
by dust of passing cars
on road to wind-blown beaches.

the Flip-Flop Brigade of tourists
sees Boss Bull with golf ball testicles;
says, "Hamburger on the Hoof!"

the road curves, with space;
they drive on.

(ji bo, 2009)

..................

want to experience
deep Zen?
wander off the path!

(for G. Snyder)

...............

Pioneer Tree Trail

up-creek, redwood sun poles;
hummingbird in unidentified sapling;
brush poison oak with pants leg,
climb switch-back, down glade,
young redwoods begin life here -
ferns, trillium, wren sounds warning:
"my home; beware!"

somewhere, far-away
a garbage truck
shatters the day.

(neckbone, Sam Taylor Park, 2009)






.................

six egrets fly south
over salt marsh;
white question marks
in my binoculars.

(neckbone, Inverness, CA, 2009)

...............

road trip blues

so much time
making decisions,
when the road
always decides
for itself.


..............

The Great Bear State

Iron Mountain Poets trek -
Point Reyes National Seashore;
visit Earth edge.

While trek in progress
poet master Gary Snyder
read from new book,
"Tamalpais Walking" -
audience on hay bales,
doors open to soft breeze.

White pelicans, lupine, vultures,
egrets, kelp art.

no problem.









............

man on jet plane
wears hand-made sign
on string around neck.
sign says -
Relax
Enjoy life.

...........

Mojave Desert
spotted with cloud shadow -
hard rock ridges
snow on peaks.
somewhere below
a mule deer looks up
sees jet plane.

man waves.

(ji bo, 39,000 feet, 2009)

............

Pt. Reyes National Seashore

10,000 cows
1 million yellow flowers
18,000 purple thistles
200 pelicans
big lagoon
hard wind out of west
blows hat off
just for fun.

(ji bo, 2009)




................

walk sand trail:

meet quail, flowers,
a snake, jumping spider.
distant ocean sounds
like freight train.

"looks like Ireland," man says.
"looks like Scotland," woman says.
"looks like here," crow says.

crow swoops on wind
disappears into passing cloud.

(ji bo, 2009)

..............

new/old idea

bodhisattva of place,
not just people
ants, birds -
entire ecosystem.

...........

the joy of travel

first glimpse
of unfamiliar
woodpecker.

...............

Traveler's Prayer

Dear Immune System:
please remember
to do your job,
at least until
I get home!

cloud edge
slices New Mexico
down
the middle.


..............

hippies in pickup trucks
millionaires in denim rags
yoga by the minute
tourists swim like fish
on sidewalks paved
with fool's gold
in Santa Fe.

(neckbone, 2009)

Summer Symphony in the Park

.........

look up! -

City lights swallowed
by giant earth-eating storm:
trees dance, drunk with wind;
music stops, all eyes on winged-Leopard.

too late - rush for safety
as Leopard sweeps paws across Park,
uprooting reality, snapping Friday night:
breaking glass, ancient roots torn,
tangled webs, galaxies of debris,
rain like buckshot, angry hissing wisps.

Leopard swirls across City
inhales power lines,
one street after another
darkening dominoes;
café patrons sip wine
in candle-glow, dreaming.

no magic spells, no rattle-bones;
a Leopard uncaged is free
to roam the Universe

just get
- out -
of the way.

(neckbone, 2009)