Passing Through

(C) R.L.K.

A dew-wet morning;
summer is gone and the cold
wind is full of leaves.
....

Streaks of bright yellow
on the willows by the brook --
a long way to spring.
....

After dark, after
a rainstorm, a hazy moon
drifts over the streets.

The Shape of an Afternoon

(C) R.L.K.

The mood is more than autumnal now; the day's
rain fizzles out, the wind chimes sound a faint
note. Alone on the porch, you consider how
softly the brown leaves have fallen and settled
on the gray stairs. You recall that once
this quiet hour would have marked the end
of a big day with many things done. But
that was then, and time, somehow, shrinks
as we get older. We don't know where it goes,
and now, what happens - rain fizzling, chimes
sounding, leaves falling - hardly happens at all.

What Is Where It Is

(C) R.L.K.

AUTUMNAL

there
on those distant hills
trees
rustling with reds,
yellows, greens -
and here
we stand
amazed at how huge the world is
and how it shines
in the silence
of the sun

JOURNEY

fallen leaves
flying
across the railroad tracks -
passing through,
just passing through

LATER

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

Daydrift

(C) R.L.K.

this morning our
world's a world in
half-shadow, a
world of soft sound

and leaf-flutter;
the lingering
smell of last night's
rain on wet grass

stirs memories,
and now and then
there's a brief tune
from the wind chimes

This Place, At Times

(C) R.L.K.

Dawn. In the garden,
the sunlight flings dew over
the young marigolds.
....

Afternoon shadows
struggle through garden walls, fall
across the roses.
....

All night long, the sound
of the rain softly falling
into the garden.

Some Sabbath

(C) R.L.K.

Sunday -
    after hard
      rain,
       sunlight
through the windows, trees
    glisten / between leaves,
        pieces
        of blue sky

....
   such warmth
      finally,
a summer day so boldly
     green,    awash
        with sun-
         shine, fine
    with light breezes
      through a window
open        to what's
                new    
....

dusky light
    lingering
  on the hilltops;

softly now,
    the rustling of
breeze-shaken leaves /

   along the shaded
     sidewalk,
       sounds
     of another day
       done

Quintet

(C) R.L.K.

as the morning bells ring
  mist from the river
    veils the birch trees
.

the sun lights up the room
  while the dust rag glides
    across the piano top
.

late in the afternoon
  a pair of sparrows
    pose on a telephone pole
.

at close of day
  the air shimmers
    just before the rain
.

all through the night
  the cottonwoods whisper
    while the rain slowly falls