1.
Nothing gate,
a glad apartness.
It sees me back,
am I a stone
or better brick
made by mind
of dirt and water,
will I? Open
I do dare, at times,
a gap in my anxiety
matches a doorway
and it goes me in.

2.
Uphill the water surges
I stood on the Pali heights
in that famous wind when
all the words I ever breathed
came roaring back at once.

3.
But it doesn’t have to be Hawaii.
Gentlest autumn trees abound
in subtle variations, color, shade,
yet tumultuous are all the leaves
and they remind, remind, remind.

4.
Spin song,
buffo romance,
never take
the lad quite
seriously,
skeptics are
good for the soul.
So I was moved to see
in that Buddhist bedroom
a crucifix on the wall
even if it was a dream.

5.
See where the gate goes?
We say gait in English too,
how one walks, as if to take
even one step is to go
and go through. All
I have to do is tell you this.

27 October 2022