FRONT PORCH IN FLOWERS

 *

Front porch in flowers

Geraniums surround me

Wrapped in Karen’s arms


Jim Bodeen

28 April 2021

LAKE CROSSING

 

LAKE CROSSING


Old one, good old stone

Read the obituaries

Take the fast boat


Jim Bodeen

18 April 2021

Put it with roses

 *


Put it with roses

Red wheelbarrow shows its rust

but the herald’s voice


Seven times seven foolish

All the old poems reborn


Jim Bodeen

21 April 2021

Walk April Garden

 *

Walk April garden

with coffee in the red cup

gathering supplies


Jim Bodeen

18 April 2021

ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR MOTHER'S CROSSING

 












On the Tenth Anniversary of Our Mother’s Crossing


Before leaving town

Saturday’s urgent beauty

Letters sent in mail


Jim Bodeen

11 April 2021

Hearing Karen Breathe











*

Hearing Karen breathe

How is it? I ask

I have to get up


Got to go to the bathroom

Otherwise I slept ok


Jim Bodeen

12 April 2021


EARLY LISTENING

 

EARLY LISTENING


Left hand on your breast

Elbow covering stomach

Right arm beneath you

My ear is a stethoscope

Intimate daily lifeline


Jim Bodeen

6 April 2021

AFTER-NOW

AFTER-NOW


No mumbling rebirth word talk

Build your own spring-like pathway

Jim Bodeen

4-8 April 2021

Cairn Prayer on Easter

 *

Cairn prayer on Easter

Marking trees through wilderness

Three-stone temple talk


Jim Bodeen

4 April 2021

DOSTOEVSKY'S FAITH

 *

Dostoevsky's faith

Even if it isn't true

I choose to believe

Non-utilitarian

Grace came to be well-travelled


Jim Bodeen

5 April 2021

INK IN SNOW

 

*


Couldn’t fix a thing

Couldn’t make it easier

mining hidden roots

Even notebooks aren’t diamonds

Treasure words line stone sidewalk


Jim Bodeen

2 April 2021

WHAT A DAY, THIS MOMENT

 












WHAT A DAY, THIS MOMENT


Misty, low visibility, sun

in back of it all, with seer light.

Change sun glasses for goggles

as lift operator hands me a chunk

of paraffin mixed with graphite.

Rub it on when snow gets soft out there

Stay safe. My Soul 7s,

powder ski gift of the son

on the mountain carry me.

The Great R imprint

on its tip, Mi Rocinante,

powder ride. Just after noon,

sun tipping towards west side

of Hogback Mountain, I ski

under red boundary rope loaded

with hoarfrost, a spectacle

stopping me before hiking.

Pure snow of pure land

Japanese Death Poems

from Samurai warriors

and night reading precursors

of Saigyo, Bashö, this

white walk songline ski

trek dream fragment

walking among tree stands

I’ve known thirty years.


Far enough now I get out

cameras, old standby Panasonic

video with wide angle lens

from when I had money

and an Iphone. Filming,

climbing. Pocket Rumi

from the backpack. Hold him

before the camera. Keep

climbing, keep descending,

feeling my way through trees

snow tracks as my way out,

guides at my back. Mathnawi

inside my covered eyes

Fasting is the first principle,

fast and hold, step fast, edge.

This hollowed out spot

opens a prayer camp

where I’ll unpack

the extra jacket--

blanket and table cloth--

apple, saltines, notebook.


Jim Bodeen

30 March 2021