misty heights

silent retreat

october twenty twenty-three

monchique

*

no entry

no exit point to silence

enter or leave it you cannot

*

in the midst of noise

it never leaves you

it is what carries you

wherever you go

*

it is what carries along everything

unnoticed

unheard

in a silent way

*

in the midst of silence

we are forgetful of it

lest we listen to raindrops

pattering on the roof

to a crow’s cawing as it

flies over treetops

on hillside slopes

*

forgetful of it though

it indwells the deepest

leave it we cannot as

we cannot leave space

*

you step into the dark

from the threshold of the hut

suspended

the morning star

dazzlement of darkness

that twinkle

*

then a shooting star

in the predawn sky

on the narrow trail

flash of a question mark

eternity glimpsed

*

calling

calling echoes of the gong

travel far into the misty valley

*

cottony clouds

adrift over eucalypti

deep bows to the wind

*

hills awash with rains

treading steep country road

flies keep company

*

in a plot by the roadside

pumpkins bask under the heat

late autumn sun

*

broken hives

scattered here and there

bees

nectars of how many summers ago

*

vision dimming

what you no longer can see

rests in the invisible for you

*

still another storm

invited to a thunderous gathering

night before parting

*

week of long sitting

here restless

there restful

changing weather

scenery of the heart

*

traveler gone

journeys continue

coming and going

howling of the wind

pines drooping

*

crickets have cleared out

still you hear their cries

late this evening

*

in the temple

adorned in purple robes

masters long parted

sitting in candle glow

bequeath their warm smile

*

not the steps you take

not the road ahead

where it goes

what counts is

your not knowing

*

the empty hand

carries the dark

carries the light

the giving heart

what is unseen but

freely moves everywhere

*

submerged in a sea of mist

wavy hills

where are you going tonight

*

in the distance

portimão

faint

scintillation of your lights

*

fullmoon

quivers in the pond

among sleeping lilies

*

the erring

this close now to you

no one's erring

just a pulsing in the blood flow

*

daybreak

subdued by rustling branches

the rooster’s call