Leaf-eared Mouse Koans

[Scene: A scorching desert landscape of the Atacama. Two leaf-eared mice, KAITO and AKIRA, stand facing each other.]

KAITO:
"Does the hill burn?"

AKIRA:
"The hill is not burned. Yet, I am on fire."

[They vanish into the sand. Sound of wind.]

[Scene: A Parisian café. It is overcast outside a paint chipped window. Our protagonist, PIER, sits at a small table, sipping a cup of coffee. He strikes up a conversation with the café's proprietor, MONSIEUR LEFBOOL.]

PIER:

(skeptically)

Monsieur Lefbool, tell me... are these chocolate-covered espresso beans truly made from the finest espresso beans?

MONSIEUR LEFBOOL:

(with a hint of a smile)

Ah, Pier, my friend... (pauses to puff on his hashish pipe) The answer, she is not so simple. You see, some of these... (gestures to the chocolate-covered beans) ...are indeed made from the Arabica beans, roasted to perfection, no?

PIER:

(intrigued)

Oui? Your answer is a she, no? You said the answer, she is not so simple.

MONSIEUR LEFBOOL:

(leaning in, a conspiratorial whisper)

But others, Pier... they may use the Robusta beans, or perhaps even those pissy coffee beans from Oregon in the United States. Pissy, pissy, pissy. (shrugs) The world, she is full of mysteries, n'est-ce pas? And yes, my answer is a she. She is the answer, but she is not pissy.

PIER:

(thoughtfully)

I see. And how can one know, Monsieur Lefbool, which beans are used, and which ones are pissy.

MONSIEUR LEFBOOL:

(with a sly grin)

Ah, Pier... that, my friend, is the question, no? (winks) One must always be vigilant, always seek the truth... (pauses dramatically) especially when it comes to the sacred coffee, and the pissy cup?

[Scene fades as Pier nods, stoops over and vomits on the floor next to a woman about to purchase two baguettes.]

new moon
evening 
light rain
when the clouds 
break apart
you can see Cassiopeia

HAIKULLOWEEN

here come the cold clouds 

and the bleak night at death's door

carve eyes in the gourd

—————————

our hearts were heavy

there was a flicker of light

the rain is pouring 

—————————

tremors in the boards

as we walk up the staircase 

caked in dust and webs

—————————

the flames kept rising

consuming the legs and arms

melting the eyeballs

—————————

moans from the cellar

it is cold and damp and dark

and the door is locked

—————————

I am lying still

dreaming of flying away

from the grave’s dark soil 

—————————-

the cave bear attacks

lunges at my neck and face

and chops off my head 

—————————-

the dinner began

with the impalement of guests

followed by sweetbreads

—————————-

SkyKu (Autumn)

North 33 degrees 42 minutes 29.80 seconds

West 111 degrees 54 minutes 2.81 seconds

jupiter rising
the moon near high noon a storm 
cell depletes southeast 
-
an owl dives over 
the roof’s edge careens down to
the scrub for a kill
-
sky flash     flash    —flash-flash
rain drops tattoo the flagstone
rosemary and sage
-
storm lurks over dark
creosote brushed washes swell
with muddy water 
-
over grown palo 
rocks sand trash bags and lightning
strikes over four buttes  
-
rain brings revival
from desert’s dry cracked soil
toads whir with crickets

-
see the leaves, stare at 
the rocks—listen to the breath 
of wind between branches
-
a bright star stage right 
cassiopeia over 
Jupiter pin point 
-
in the moonlight a 
moth dances on my lips in
the abyss of sky
-
stars are no comfort 
on our mortal earth tonight
eons old ghost light
-
waning crescent moon
cruising in over the buttes
its 2:32 am
-
there is orion   
rising in the east  moon  soon
jupiter shines bright
-
there is a poem
a sliver of amber moon 
softly lifting cool
-
taking a piss on
the rocks a shadow moves to
a tarantula!
-
cacophony in silence 
beginning black moon 
-
jupiter between 
branches belt of orion
spans east on the buttes
-
all the owls come back
fly into the neighborhood 
when a horse brays out
-
sitting watching stars
all night in silence moths dive 
attack my forehead 
-
east, a meteor 
streaks across orion’s chest
low on horizon

-
its monday morning 
I chew up and spit out like 
thorn apple flowers
-
no god can hear our
music we dance under stars
before we evolved
-
everything you can’t 
see wants to see you tonight
in the dark desert
-
a spider visits
like Brando in Last Tango
curls into a ball
- 
a mirage of storms
fence in the last hard hot town
the rain clouds disperse
-
dusk is cool and damp 
moon and venus set in the 
blue west a star dies
-
coyote steps soft
among the rocks this morning 
searching for water

-
star constellations
moon falls west past the yucca
near the wild flowers
-
strong moonshine shadows 
tattooed on the stucco walls
a wolf spider tans
-
cloudy but no moths
nor sound of animals near
a motionless night
-
big owl lands on roof
head turns wings expand body  
drops into shadows
-
cloudless skies at night 
full harvest moon coyote 
pups break the silence
-
orion rises 
east falling star waning moon 
plays out in the south
-
high drifting clouds back 
lit with moon as tapestries 
multi-stitched universe

-
waiting for god-owl
or ghost of Euripides
moon with orion
-
chasing jupiter 
with star spica east over
the dark wall of buttes
- 
the dark matter drops
meteor towards jupiter 
moon orion east
-
struck by the lightning
beneath the dead saguaro
are fingers of glass
-
a banded gecko
looses the stalking contest  
to the grasshopper
-
bruised horizon crowned 
cracks of piano lightning
late night earth prayer 
-
scent of rosemary
creosote, acacia
mesquite and sage drift
 
a low bean moon south 
soft glow with dried prickly pear
fruit on river rock
-
even the gods are 
dead under the history 
of a bright full moon
-
through the trees the wind 
blew the backyard gate open 
orion spans east
-
perseids peaking
they’re popping all over the 
space in my pupils
-
coyote’s shadow 
walks between landscape lighting 
moves on stucco wall
-
pink quartz mars glints through 
the palo verdes standing
along the dry wash
-
carved on a rock some
30,000 years ago
distant star explodes 

-
the eon lantern 
the choir inside your skull
soul moves into flesh
-
The Alexandria Library 48 BC
The Brazilian Museum 2018 CE
-
moon and mars are seen
at autumnal equinox
near capricornus
-
planet alignment 
east moon saturn jupiter 
venus starry sky
-
autumn hum trees leaves 
eyes rhythms catechism
gold sonnets of souls
- 
the one baby cloud 
evaporates like love in 
moon light so quiet
-
fly a kite over 
tree of life the harvest moon 
antiquity quilts
 
palm tree silhouette
cobweb clouds moon amber east 
above the dark buttes 
-
a heavy down pour 
floods gulches high in the hills
here it is quiet
-
jupiter low in 
the east orion over 
the superstitions 
-
moon holding water 
straight down over the highway
a flash bulb explodes
-
heading up to the 
roof the sun has set and the 
stars will fall tonight
-
it’s cold out here as 
if hunted by ghost darkness
dew blurs coats the eyes
-
dark night as the shadow
batman and zorro sink
into the le brea tar pits
- 
indigenous language
evolves inside our inner ear
follow the tongue in music
-
no longer to 
hang out w/ 
god at 3am
-
indian summer 
fires burn in the mind
-
tiny star near the  
edge of the moon orion
jupiter due east
-
70/30 
blood water land flesh they mesh
in the human dance
-
last night Anselm Hollo 
talked to me in a dream 
-
upper atmosphere 
moon illuminates contrail 
like line of cocaine
- 
owls there’s two talking
one is close across the street
the other north east
- 
owls carry off the
call to give their location
they like to eat mice
- 
coyotes wail quilt 
patch clouds
orion pulls south
-
east big dipper low
north horizon— pleiades 
fast moving high clouds
-
long airplane contrail 
cuts moon halo in half like
a math equation
-
when god blows out the 
candle back in the big bang
frog jumps in kerplunk
-
jupiter rising 
orion high meteors 
catching me off guard
- 
jupiter low east
below sirius shining 
below orion
-
soft half moon light low
westerly rooftop shadows
all points east the stage
-
mid day gray dark cool 
rain forgotten love songs drift 
as radio waves
-
cactus wren lands and 
stares at me a hummingbird 
hovers near my head
-
languid evil eye 
moon rose orion through black 
ironwood branches
-
the acacia 
slumbers in heavens breezes
javalina sneezes
-
full silence full empty void
meditation pulling all 
the oceans on earth
-
tipping the crust on 
the quick cool song in autumn 
full stark white plate moon
-
tonight under these 
meteor showers would you 
use a bar of soap?
-
someday all the rich 
folks will move to mars and die 
the rest of us cheer
- 
now all weather is 
godzilla weather spring fall
summer and winter
-
listen to autumn and monk
-
water permeates 
rock even the universe
even dark matter
- 
orion is east 
storm clouds disperse amazing 
the dark universe
- 
the pin pricks of light 
are camp fires in space-time
ancient trees of life
-
large oval cocoon
storm cell pregnant with lightning 
winds and sheets of rain
-
being dances with
extinction the world sleepwalks 
in our mind tonight
-
low east orion 
rising amber crescent low 
west beneath the clouds 
-
water hangs like pearls 
on the edge of the iron 
white spiral staircase
- 
petroglyphs show the
earth as sacred deity
carved into the rock
- 
mars trading its rust 
color with the setting moon
private jet flies by
-
half moon resting west 
gold layers of refracted 
light the desert edge 
-
T monk rides foxtrot
sol fill sing co-pay shon tic 
tac town mid-night lights
-
one half reaps one half 
grows waiting for orion
moon and mars tango 
-
dark silhouettes west 
there are lion dragon clouds 
a deep wild canvas
-
2:30am 
god falls in the universe
operas fill ears
-
morning poetry 
dark autumn night starry sky
bequeath eye doctor
-
fluffy moonlit cloud 
moves fast over mountains east  
framing orion
-
in love- the whole world 
falls away where time meets space
flowers trees our graves
-
moon like a train light 
inside a foggy tunnel
that never arrives
-
the six rattlesnakes 
in my life never killed me
listening is the key
-
morning christopher
hope a seaside sings soft mist 
vibes for you this year
-
wait its 3 am
when everyone is asleep
when planes stop flying
-
machines stop humming
and the heavens open up 
all the stars will dance
- 
a swan guitar pick 
a shimmering pastoral 
stars infinitum
-
clouds stare as wolf face 
peripheral orion 
early star gazing
-
find the center of 
gravity in your wheelhouse
let the river flow
-
not flying to mars
occupy sesame street
instead for god’s sake
-
now that all is done
only thing left is the end 
of all existence
-
there is a new moon 
and somewhere there's an eclipse
let me check my list 
-
venus rising up
taurus star aldebaran
good enough for me
-
clouds are breaking up 
nice night for the naked eye
the sky’s the limit
-
moths still fly faster 
than a falling star tonight
3am hour 
-
wind at 3 am
the holy ghost the story 
without using ink
-
it was just 11:11:11 pm - 11/12/13
-
the owl on a branch
in the moonlight in the tree 
looks on looks away
-
one huge storm cell split
in two directions I am 
bathed in the moonlight
- 
moon is setting west 
orion high jupiter 
east add meteors
-
the point that pivots 
eternity in the eye
of the beholder 
-
now jupiter east
orion lifting battle 
club attacking moon
- 
a butterfly flies 
away and now memories  
dad son holy ghost
-
jupiter out-shines 
the moon through clouds now that is 
a big ass planet
-
sleep, the library
when you wake up the world is 
quiet and waiting
-
november embers 
smolder leaves roots rust soil
a place to gather
-
ancient star low long 
the moon shadows and cool winds
smell of burnt coffee
-
falling stars west north 
west silver then greenish bright 
a blast of crisp light
-
incredible how 
they fly these new meteors
no need for clearance 
-
3 coyote this 
morning crossing the dark road
with the cooing quails 
-
moonlight in eyesight 
bright love fallen tree shadows 
move in autumn winds
-
a cactus wren lands 
in a puddle of water
cleaning her feathers
-
earth half polluted 
half filled with undiscovered 
life for our children
-
clouds east revealing  
orion rising above
autumn desert hills
-
when meeting God tell 
him to go to Africa 
and read a good book
-
let your toes grab the 
ground before your brain ruins
the experience
- 
dream tonight and sink 
inside the warm earth and rise 
to a bright morning
- 
orion over 
my shoulder at 3am
mind your own business
-
morning mountain mists 
a hummingbird perched inside
woven strands of hair
-
a hawk on a butte  
flew from my view before I
could take the picture
-
the owl parallels 
my car headlights flies across 
my hood swoops away
- 
mind like a goat’s horn 
overflowing with flowers 
food for the sun god
-
reading William Blake 
by the lake drinking sake
beside an ink well
(In Tlaquepaque)
-
over the country 
over the city the jets 
blink like scorpions 
-
when I brush my hands 
against a rosemary bush
deep blue aroma
-
birds fly through the space
between gravity and time 
sun, moon, dawn to dusk
-
blood crescent moon sinks 
west in soot tonight you can
smell the burning sage
-
erupting in the
fires on the radio 
balloon universe
-
moon breaking through clouds 
east around the ironwoods
and the saguaro
-