four seasons

a group of poems describing three seasons as they pass in Monterey County and a winter in Kansas

spring!

tanka

on the sun-splashed stones

of the terrace a fat lizard

stretches to soak up

warmth -- purple petals

of wisteria rain down

 

summer

rengö 1

the tourists scramble

over sharp, kelp-covered rocks,

like ants swarming on

picnic crumbs -- squealing when

feet slip into frigid water.

prying starfish off

rocks, plucking tiny crabs from

tidepools, they ravage

the beach, feed the greedy gulls

and leave their debris behind.

teeming

rengö 2

SUVs hauling

kayaks, bicycles of all

kinds, rollerblade skates,

hang-gliders, surfboards, buckets

of money, driving into

Monterey to glut

hotels and pricey cottages,

to choke the streets and

lay siege to Cannery Row,

to throw fast food trash in our

Bay, to take countless

snapshots of each other

standing in front of

lovely old adobes that they

ignore, unaware of all

the hallowed beauty

surrounding them, unaware

they are killing it,

that the pines are dying and

earth is menaced by blindness.

 

monday morning

rengö 3

wonderful fog wraps

Monterey in her damp gray

cloak; through lifting mists

the lovely curve of the shore

seems bedecked in frothy lace.

also seen are crews

from CalTrans lined up along

Highway One, picking

up the weekend tourist trash,

every Monday morning.

 

autumn

rengö

beautiful creature

trapped in the pitiless spider’s

web -- poor butterfly --

delicate wing fluttering

 in the uneven autumn

wind -- summer so short --

life so brief -- just a gasp as

your loveliness moans

softly of nature’s brutal

and necessary rhythms.

 

winter

rengö

nothing like a night

when the snow is coming down

in great white swirls of

fluffy snowflakes, nothing like

that deep quiet of snow at

night:  piling against

the walls, drifting over walks

and streets, over toys

abandoned in the still yard,

hiding all sins and sorrows.