Photo by Katy Brown, Davis
—B.Z. Niditch, Brookline, MA
Sun enlightens
backyard oaks
as red leaves fall
enthusiastically
from blue hills
in tenuous shadows
and a child
we know all too well
makes friends
with nature's words
writing his initials
on a branch.
______________________
WINTER IN CONFLICT
—B.Z. Niditch
In a knotted hatred
of war since childhood,
domestic or foreign,
my lonely initials
from my right hand
held your immigrant suitcase
by ash trees
in their cold shiver
like our own
at first light
near the train station
hearing questions
in broken English
anyone would ask
moonstruck by miles
between two shores
awakened by red eye
in lonely latitude
enveloped by darkness.
______________________
WINTER BY OCEAN
—B.Z. Niditch
Waiting around
on silence
The sun turns
on our backs
Clouds hide
seabird voices
Stretching sailors
ice fish
A graffiti artist
at the lighthouse
Dunes breathe
an eternal winter.
_____________________
WINTER GUEST
—B.Z. Niditch
On wintry nights
when conversation
like auspicious ivy
wears out
our hospitality,
and darkness
in the living room
exhales vagrancy,
as lamp lights
beneath a reflection
of elm and evergreen
cannot judge
our past cadences,
a cool silence spins
on our long day faces
until we recognize
the familar steps
of belonging.
_____________________
RESPONSES
—B.Z. Niditch
At three
am or pm
there is little
to ask for,
crucifixion
takes place
outside the city
gates
at the nameless hour,
the electric chair
is always ready
with present company
only to execute
judgement,
there is little mercy
on the sleeplesss walls
when a red rose appears
in winter
outside the hospice.
_____________________
A WELCOME
—B.Z. Niditch
Until the sound
of sparrows
at the edge
of first light
in dawn
of barely awakened
wisdom
as to the day
breathing in
the large mountain air
in one commotion
of birds flying upward
near the roof's melody.
By evergreen leaves
trailing in the yard
we overhear
resuming echoes
by the balcony sun
we welcome
unless we should close
the coverlet
and resume our rest.
_______________________
Today's LittleNip:
Today, while begging food, a sudden downpour.
I waited out the storm in a small shrine.
Laughing—one jug for water, one bowl for rice.
My life is like an old run-down hermitage—
poor, simple, quiet.
—Ryokan (trans. from the Japanese by John Stevens)
_______________________
—Medusa, with thanks to today's cooks in the Kitchen. Katy Brown will be reading at A Starry Night Poetry Series in Lodi this coming Sunday (tomorrow) at 2 pm; go to www.astarrynightproductions.com/poetryseries/poetryseries.htm and scroll down for more info. And you can learn more about B.Z. Niditch at community-1.webtv.net/buzz-worthy/TheWorldofBZNiditch
And please take note of our new feature on the green board at the right of this column: N-SOWs (News-Seeds of the Week)—poem ideas that have been taken from the news.
Canada Goose
—Photo by Katy Brown
