Five Tails

Steady ground of multitudinous paws

with limitless capacity to reflect

I gaze through dog windows seeing

laying  there aspects of my self

true and false  whole as well as partial

muddied then still and clear

what a day of five tails telling

what might not otherwise be seen

a) Attentive

foundling shaped coddled softened

from the inside out Mystic Eye of

the Beholder tender and fierce

at times rapidly interchanging

hesitant yet braised in a longing

contained by eons of shadowing

supplicant of the human heart

when opened  vastly free

b) Bounding

naked nighttime new moon confab

juxtaposes playful boundless reverie

extremes of pursuit and contentment

don’t tie me down but keep me close

tender toothed kisses unfettered affection

I see my own innocence here glowing

even with misunderstandings speculation

and day rises again the bright clear sun

c) Chivalrous

the heart that opens deeply softly

eyes eyes eyes seeing watching tasting

putting all aside ready to desire delight

transparency confluence of many worlds

easy traveler buoyant riding over surface

and depth his role clear certain allowing

leave it in his hands but paws and nose

return again and again ever welcoming

d) Dear

unsettled bashfully brazen welcoming

committee of one of anything needing

alerting exuberantly caught in her own skin

and grace melting icebergs in her sleep

where all previous proclivities disperse

just give me something soft to curl onto

something to gaze into calm me full

in these simple yet abiding nourishings

w) Exceptionally

no other steps in here in This Way

fraught with complexity and oh so

vulnerable would it could it be seen

only only only ready ready steady

bound within an unspoken allegiance

being everything and plus some to His

and yet what has been asked is more

than some could bear this bare note

• • •

And five tails told but only wagging

can tell what more is to be seen

dog windows to the soul of so many

internal worlds open space off leash

Five Queen Bees

Five Queen Bees

oh they each had their share
of satellite bees
loyal tees all
home before dark fell
no lies to tell.

still isolated queens they be
never to meet
nor drink together tea
solo queen bees.

one day on the same day
all their subjects flee
swarm away
up to the neighbor’s tree.

in their hives,
the five queens
now each alone
cherish the silence of their own
quiet zone at last
but do miss their subjects passed.

they live off last year’s honey
but without company
and never to meet
these five queen bees
alone in their hives
so end their lives.

5 fists from sally - as the saints come flowing in

from sally/for sally

a

in qigong after the meditation and before the dharma talk

in a shambly old church east of the "jesus is the light

of the world" sign in 70000 point font next to a rise of old doug fir

towards the end, the instructor tells us to make fists and 

be fierce like lions, punching out then scooping back

i can't make fists for the lion, though i still know how to growl

but fists are too much like fighting, like breaking both the bones in my 

arm when i threw the right hook like all the yelling

i lunge out with an open palm, fierce in my nonviolence

the palm up a kind of offering, a kind of maple leaf offered up to sky

sourced from earth, the strong dirt that made the leaf of my palm

zens me still

b

not that the earth can't be angry

it's just i've had enough ire for several generations

haven't we 

all?

c

it's why some of us are committed

to not having human offspring

to not make more of what has so recently become

a plague of fists, a triumph of stomping

d

"when the saints come marching in"? they got it all wrong

when the wood nymphs come floating in

when the spirits of water come flowing in

when the great transformative fire tongues 

come licking in 

when the springs of air come zephyring in

even come earthquake even come tornado

there is no marching, never any marching

in the well order of things

e

my friend suggests to make a poem with 5 things. 

five in my tribe is the star of provisioning, the flow of 

ideas, inspiration, feelings, embodiment, and guidance

that weave into sinews into my being.

this 5 fold weave breathes me to life.

i come to this poem not with a fist but a maple leaf

newly birthed in spring spinning to summer

the green light flowing through

i uncurl my fingers and offer an open leaf up

5 fronds for luck

5 fronds for making

5 fronds for mercy

5 fronds for health

5 fronds for justice

Levity/Gravity after 5Rhythms

spanslip - clicktrack - blankflankanklebankthanktank -tinwhistle - qi 

 

                                                           Levity. Gravity.
           a page inside her book
                                   to love every stage

        pat my back, unseen hand
                                                i pass the hardwood mistakes

 clay jug need not move              the pitcher does not need lifting to pour

        open sound
                             away rain

                                                    bye, bay  bay, bye

5 times in the zen box


4 times I smoothed clear the zen box


the first with my breath
the second with my hand
the third with my foot
the fourth in my mind


the fifth time the zen box cleared before me

IMUNURI prompt: five

Do something this week with the number five.

- Write a poem with five lines.

- Or write a poem in which each line has exactly five words. Or five syllables.

- Make the title of your poem "Five [BLANK]" or "[BLANK] times five" or "The fifth time I ever [BLANK]."
 
- Writing on a theme or subject that relates to the number five, such as Charles Simic's "Bestiary for the Fingers of My Right Hand," a five-part poem about his fingers; or Eleanor Lerman's poem "Starfish."

Five stanzas.
Lines that rhyme in sets of five.
Take five breaths between each word you write.
Listen to Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" (in 5/4 time) as you write.
Eat five bananas before writing.

Five a poem this week.

labels:  [five, poem, your name]