On Halsted Street

 (C) R.L.K.

Clouds are moving in
from the west as the sun sets
in a wash of red;
a bus with one passenger
rolls past the empty storefronts.

Away from Town

 (C) R.L.K.

In the deep night
pebbles of rain
pound the flat roads
even flatter
while the wind whines

high in the trees.

Mereness

 (C) R.L.K.

1.
From the depot roof
crows stare at the sleet falling
on the empty tracks.

2. 
Lonely winter night --
above the trees and rooftops
the moon glows like ice.

By the Water

 (C) R.L.K.

In the cold distance
the lights of the city shine
faintly through the mist;
again and again waves break
loudly  on the rocky shore.

Time Passing in an Old Town

 (C) R.L.K.

Afternoon sunlight
floods the sky and spills onto
the rusted fringes
of a defunct railway while
scraps of paper ride the wind.

Spring Haiku

 (C) R.L.K.

1.
As distant bells chime,
sunrise spreads its light upon
the narrow sidewalks.

2.
The slow drift of dusk;
the backyard trees have gathered
darkness in their limbs.

3.
Slowly, the full moon
rises in the night. Below,
the city is still.

Thoughts in January

 (C) R.L.K.

Morning in another year:
Shadows on the snow shifting
Moment to moment. Here and there
An oak branch rustles, its
Tatter of withered leaves still
Clinging, clinging, in a world
Of wind and weather, in a winter
Landscape reduced to fundamentals
Under a sky blue and cold as ice.