garden Buddha —
a mantle of virgin snow
greets the new year /cm

first sparrows singing
in the hedgerow /jws

a fleeting glance
towards the polished
candelabrum /nd

he hefts the sack
through an open window /jws

* * *

in hot pursuit
a cat streaks out
across the moonlit yard /cm

somewhere in autumn's voice
your whisper /nd

she brings me
bitter smoke from the leaf pile
smuggled in her hair /jws

a whiff of bay rum
from the old cedar chest /dm

the sun's arisen
time to wet your whistle
for the fleadh /nd

a warbler clinging
to a broken reed /jws

* * *

the way to eternity
mapped out
in the ceiling cracks /nd

home with dad
Jesus would kill for a sister /jws

how soundless
the quickening of passion
in a petri dish /cm

no safeword
something climbs my thigh /nd

under an icy moon
the stray sniffs at
a broken wishbone /nd

even a sneeze freezes
in this frigid air /cm

* * *

polishing scuds
frictionless
for the trade delegation /jws

nori stolen from the sea
for his old mom /cm

boys mitching
in the branches
make cherry blossom rain /jws

ten thousand shadows
shoot across the foolscap /nd