13

Kannon in red and white
Sits enthroned at the mall,
That temple of concupiscence,
A Styrofoam and glitter shrine
To shadow happiness.
He (ho, ho, ho!) sits patiently
To hear the world’s cries
In small increments, from children
Shyly whispering their tentative desires.

The Bodhisattva listens
With a kindly smile,
Reminds them to be good
(…For goodness’ sake!), but
Makes no promises.
Hark how their moms meanwhile
Arrange for photographs
To document these baby steps
In suffering life so eagerly passed on.

Kannon in red and white
Soundless to the earless throngs
Preaches continuously, a resonant sight
Of generosity amid the glittering lights.
The silent call goes out:

To all, to all, a happy day;
To all, to all, goodnight.

-Patrick Mizelle

submitted 2010

14

Object of Desire

With a hunch-shouldered sigh,
you are always packing a bag and walking away
from a lover
that used to make you happy.
When suddenly, after years
of thoughtful breathing
a lover explodes
like a flower
and through a gash of stars, you see
on an inmost petal,
your neighborhood,
with the whole world's sunlight falling on it.

Embarrassed at your riches,
laughing with tears in your eyes,
you gather a handful of light
to feed the hungry birds.

-Deanna Hopper

selected January 2010

15

Golden Gate Bridge

Rusty ladders
against
sky-blue enamel;
The Fur Moon
in the window of
a square nimbus

-Ellen Skagerberg

submitted January 2010

16

big beautiful mOOn

pulling the waves

out of the sea.

pulling me

out of myself

and on to the shores

of possibility

like a mussel

i cling to the hard rock

only pounding surf

can rip me loose.

i can hear

the mOOn hollering

down to me

"let go.. enjoy the ride!"

-Patti Hughes

submitted January 2010

17

Everywhere - Everyone

I am from everywhere and no one
From ashes to frosted winds
I am from surfing and the scary cliffs
From windmills, tulips and big round cheeses
I am from pastures and highways
From the apple to the blue ridge mountains

I am from the lack of air to the breath of life
From foreign lands and twisted tongues
From candles burning and bread just baked
I am from nowhere and everyone

-William Eapana Gross - 14 years old

submitted January 2010

18

The potter,

innocent of all

he makes

how could he know

his bowl would hold the moon


-Peter Levitt

selected January 2010

January Index

A convenient list of all those who submitted poems (see above,) January, 2010.

Clifford, Amos

D’Orio, Donna

Gross, William Eapana

Hopper, Deanna

Hughes, Patti

Knab, Bob

Krumbein, Bill

Levitt, Peter

Mizelle, Patrick

Rhoads, Kirk

Skagerberg, Ellen

Snow, Tom