New Dogs, Old Tricks



(1)

The young bird sings for the first time
And the wind fills
In the empty spaces.

(2)

Autumn afternoon
The leafless branches
Point in the direction
The spring went past.

(3)

Old man walking among the gravestones
Tries to think
Of a poem for his.

(4)

On the way to work
The young woman finds time
To throw a pebble
Into the green pond.

(5)

Mother sleeping
The only silence in the room
The breathful pauses
Of her young daughter.

(6)

At the street intersection
The young girl stands
With a bundle of yellow balloons
Though she knows
Nobody will ever buy them.

(7)

The homeless dog
Tries to catch some sleep
In the morning
The temple priest
Will kick him out.

(8)

The old stone temple
The young priest feeds
The sacrificial goat
With a new pair of leaves.

(9)

The old fox looks at the snowman
And wonders
If he too has a rifle
Hidden behind his hands.

(10)

With her eyes closed
She reads her son’s letter
For the tenth time.

(11)

Misty autumn morning
In the dusty skies
My favourite star sings for me.

(12)

The first leaves of autumn
Are falling around me
And the helpless sky looks on
Silently counting them.

(13)

The hills around the lake
Glisten in the morning sun
And on her waters dances
The tranquillity
Of the dawn air.

(14)

Now that is autumn
You can hear in the mornings
The faint cry of the distant skies
And in the wild fields
You can see her painting the flowers yellow.