Some Music, Please (Two Fragments)

© R.L.K.

1.
Noticing things:
the moonlight
spilling through the trees,

the train rails
disappearing in the distance,
the music of the words

chosen to say
what there is
to say,

    Days, moments,
    seconds,
    quickly fading.

2.
Piano practice tonight:
strange the way the notes become tunes
and start to sound familiar,

sad when they bring
thoughts of the past --
people, things… gone.

    The sun shines,
     the rain falls;
     some of us remain.

That’s philosophy for you,
there’s a lyric for the tune
everyone sings.

         

Ways of Moving

(C) R.L.K.

1.
A chilly grey December day:
All morning long, while the trees
Empty around us, we walk on,
While the wet wind swoops down
On the last songbirds, we walk on.

2.
After the downpour,
The moon, busy drifting among clouds,
Spares us a moment
To pour a little light
On the highway.

3.
Clouds parting, a glimpse
Of a few stars, train rolling
Slowly down the hill;
"Bless the path on which we go" --
The long haul's nearly over.

As It Is (Autumn)

(C) R.L.K.

And so the leaves fall
yet again, swirling
red, whirling gold in
the November wind.
And so a soft rain
dampens the grass -- who
knows why? Things happen,
this season happens
in its own good time.

New Haiku for an Old Season

(C) R.L.K.


Shuttered train station --
The cry of a whippoorwill
Travels through the fog.
....

A chilly morning --
Is that hatless old scarecrow
Laughing at the wind?
....

October stillness;
The rays of the setting sun
Bronze the willow leaves.

Tanka Style: This September

(C) R.L.K.

Clouds like white suds in
a liquid blue sky; a brisk
wind shaking the oaks
on the hillside. Summer is
gone now, and I am weary.

Learning

(C) R.L.K.

It’s like
this
sometimes--

the wind,
the falling
leaves,

one
thin
dime,

and the sun
setting
around the corner.

Improvisations on an Old Typewriter

(C) R.L.K.
....
DUNES

dusk:
surf washing against the shore;
wind-
piled
sands
....
HOPPER

light reflected    reflected light
and so much
space
to pass time in

so what’s
a picture worth
and what’s
another word for

alone?
....
FRONT PORCH

a long day
done --
now,
to just sit here
under the clouds
and nod
along with the willows
beside the pond