My poem “The Shakuhachi Knows,” which originally appeared in Midwest Zen and is included in my full length book, Our Loveliest Bruises, is live at Feed the Holy. Thank you, Barbara Leonhard for giving this poem additional life.
I am thrilled to announce that my chapbook, In the Garden of Wind’s Delight, a collection of 22 short poems exploring the ecology of mind, spirit, and music through meditations on learning to play the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute, is available from the publisher, Illuminated Press. Founded by Laura Rowley in 2014, Illuminated Press specializes in books crafted by hand, featuring handmade papers for elements such as covers and endpapers. This book is hand bound in the Yotsume Toji binding, the traditional four-hole Japanese binding structure. Limited to 300 copies.
Many thanks to Laura Rowley and the Illuminated Press team for bringing this work to fruition.
My poem, “Dream Score,” is live at Vox Populi. Many thanks to editor Michael Simms for his support and kindness over the years.
My poem, “Ghazal of the Birds,” is live at Third Wednesday. Many thanks to editor David Jibson and the Third Wednesday team for taking this ghazal.
My poem, “A Lot of Nothings,” is live at wildness. Many thanks to editor Michelle Tudor for supporting my work over the years.
I am thrilled that Midwest Zen has published six of my shakuhachi poems, which were written in November 2017, during a self-imposed poem-a-day jag. I am grateful to editor Mark Howell for taking these poems. I still can’t play that damned flute!
My poems “Not Language but the Possibility” and “Reduced to Translation” are live at Wildness. Many thanks to editor Michelle Tudor for taking these two poems.
My poem “Self-Portrait as Shakuhachi” is live at The Headlight Review. I am grateful to the editors for taking this piece.
Ro
When this note fades
will it join you in that place
above the sky
or below the waves
of the earth’s plump
body? Or will it
circle back, returning to
my lips and this
hollow day
to aspire again?
Note: Ro designates the fingering required to produce a particular note on the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute. In this case, closing all holes.
Bamboo Flute
I am studying simplicity
in the way a rattlesnake
watches a field mouse,
which means of course
that I am doing it all wrong
and making this much more
difficult. Today’s lesson
is humility: I achieve no
tone from this damn bamboo
flute, no matter how I adjust
my mouth and wind. Go
watch football, the voices
say. Instead I go to the grocery,
buy my wife’s favorite
wine, and later pour her
a glass and offer Irish cheddar
with rice crackers and a few
grapes. I sip beer, pick up
the flute, and sound a
wavering D followed by a goose
fart and spitting hamsters.
Progress, at last! Now
back to the lesson. Relax.
I’m nailing this simplicity thing.
* * *
“Bamboo Flute” first appeared in The Larger Geometry: poems for peace, available at Amazon. This anthology of poems that “uplift, encourage and inspire,” features poets from five countries and three continents. Published by the interfaith peaceCENTER of San Antonio, Texas, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All proceeds from the sale of this anthology go to benefit the peaceCENTER.
I’m pleased to have had a small role in selecting the poems.
Contributing poets include Lynne Burnett, Charlotte Hamrick, Daryl Muranaka, Stephanie L. Harper, Sudhanshu Chopra, Texas Poet Laureate Carol Coffee Reposa, Michael Vecchio, Rebecca Raphael and others.
O at the Edges 