seven tanka

[Billy]

seven tanka


blood stains...
pulling up thorns
and thistles
i close
my prayer book


a house wren
perches on edge of roof
warbling...
i waste time grumbling
about the past



snapping turtle
halfway across highway
I pull to shoulder
watch it stop and go
flashing my lights at traffic



where the river
widens and slows
i stop
long enough to hear death's
inexorable current



lightning...
i think of Beethoven
composing
without hearing
afterwards the thunder



it rained all day
we huddled under a tarp
said goodbye
the clouds parted briefly
swallowed the sun



i long to see
dandelions
at my feet
ten thousand suns
running wild