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the smell of rain on stones
(poem © 2022 Arthur Durkee)
waves in the garden
ripples in raked sand
ripple-scans preserved
in ancient quartzite
bound half-melted, folded
under ancient heavy seas
now a boulder
in the garden
chosen for dynamic shape
sail raised to navigate sand sea
ripples in dry wake surround it
as an island risen from the sea
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mountain temple bells
10:01
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mountain temple bells
(poem © 2022 Arthur Durkee)
a single nippled gong
a hundred handbells
one deep tone to begin
the long day chanting
clatter of rings made
by monks shaping mudra
with silver bell in hand
wind chimes the high flat log
pulled back to sound
a forest-filling bell
high in temple tower
where late day sun spills gold
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Swept the Garden
(poem © 2011 Arthur Durkee)
From a life long past a wave came:
a silent monk sweeping the dirt
in the garden path beyond the zendo,
ragged broom, black robes, shaven head,
sweep, sweep, as leaves fall all around,
a breeze stirs the dust and black maples,
swish, swish, the only sound
is the leaves and the broom on the path.
From a trail of tears a sigh came:
the breath of a child letting go,
in the end, and falling, a long corridor
in a dark building full of whispers,
while before his henchmen a warlord
stands calm and still, yellow demon mask
reposing where he does not smile,
prepared for anything, a looming
nightmare that terrified me as a boy.
From a day gone still a voice came:
whisper of wound and cave, myself
as a child, a youth, a man, all three
at once, the eldest holding the youngest
against fear, all painted with ochre and dirt
before a wet shelter ditch where youngest
self once hid to spare the storm,
now held in love as we watch the lightning
this time with joy and trepidation.
From future lands a boy came:
fragile, sturdy, running to the summer sea,
backlit by waves of particled scintillant light,
roar of surf the roar of white light dying,
roar of road and wreck and jail,
and under the roar a silence a block of crystal
a leap into light, last echo of cathedral voice
ring chanting sacred prayer for who are lost,
prayer of ancient monk who once
swept the garden.
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4. |
waves in dry lake sand
12:19
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waves in dry lake sand
(poem © 2022 Arthur Durkee)
pine and maple shed their greens
to lie on pale white
dry lake garden sands
raked into ripples
island boulders circled
by wavelets frozen in time's gravel
white quartz lightning
spears through polished serpentine
at foot of red-leafed maple
pine risen above, ever green
it's autumn: leaf-boats float
atop sand waves slowly curling
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Arthur Durkee Ann Arbor, Michigan
Arthur Durkee is a composer & songwriter who records & performs on Chapman Stick, bass, analog modular synths, bamboo & wood flutes, keys, frame drums, and voice. He has won awards for composed, notated music as well as for his recordings, & is a published poet, & designer & illustrator. ... more
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