Gary Lawless

Three Poems from
Caribouddhism
Copyright 1998 by Gary Lawless
ISBN: 0942396804
Published by Blackberry Books

Yaqui Easter

Cold wind seeps the plaza,
the clowns, the smoke—
Deer dancer tastes the breeze—
Jesus, still alive, shelters
within the church—
We are under stars.
The deer dancer looks up, shakes, rattles.
We are all stars.
At night when Christ
rides the wind like pollen,
a man among flowers,
among us, the deer
lifting its head.
the sound of rasps, and rattles.
the flower world.

 

For the Earth Watchers

The bones of the saints
are carried from the cedar swamps
by pilgrims who return, year after year,
to seek out the holy sites of departure.
here the moose spirit
has left is host rock.
How we lie down
sweet and hungry.

every beautiful morning of the world
I choose the fog,
I choose the wolf,
I choose to learn to walk again
on moss with the moose through
water in air,
water under foot,
breathing the breath of the world
on every beautiful morning.

Nothing but moosetrails in the mist,
today's fog and wind,
trees against sky.
I want to disappear into cloud,
wander my way to sunlight,
follow the moose down
secret trails in the woods
to reach the places where the wolves
rest above the ridges, within us,
where the heart wanders, wild.

Deep inside the
rock becoming
fossil—
no longer here—
the wind keeps moving,
moose go on their way,
birds land, and leave—
clouds, fog, sunny days—
everything sinking slowly
into stone—
comes the day and we're gone
(no longer visible—
                    —harder and down—)

These gifts the island gives:
the moose swimming across the harbor
the moon rising above the fog
flowers along the trail
the sweet gift of birdsong you
can't wait for the island to come to you—
the gifts are given without warning.
You must be there watching, listening,
and the gift must move like water—
You must pass it on
in whatever way you fashion.

 

What the Somali Woman Told Me

She tells me that my long beard
is as useless as the tall grass
surrounding my house like weeds.
I tell her that I am
a man of wisdom, and luck.
A white bird sits on my roof.
Once a woman carried me
on her back.
I could see everything.
I felt I could fly,
like eagle, like owl.
Her breasts are large with milk.
her fingers are covered with jewels—
rubies, emeralds, and gold.
She says:
              Your beard is empty.
               the wind fills your house.
               The birds have flown away.

 

© by Gary Lawless