Solo Linked Poetry (dokugin renga)

The lawn boy frees them,
handfuls of dandelions
and a bucket

Waves leave lines on wet sand –
he pokes down pieces of glass

Soaring and diving
gulls hold flight overhead
drop mussels on rock

Walking through bunker ruins
an elderly couple took our picture

Fallen pine needles
between our toes on soft moss –
the orange moonlight

Edible mushrooms
hang from your hammock

Someone asked the time –
in the afterglow
thinking over your letter

When will you believe me when
I say they are only friends

Tender seeds airborne
weeds take root in damp cliffs
loosen slides

Mist harbors the coast for joggers—
a convoy passes on flatcars

Tossing last week’s bread
to wild ducks, after you left
for Bosnia

Mailman crossing the icy street –
out of coffee, I take the back door

Finally a letter
and grainy photograph—
such a nice haircut

Long nights up reading Whitman—
I’ll meet you at the station

Moon beams move over
the gray kitten by my feet—
crack in the window

Waving my flashlight in fog,
a possum sniffing closer

Tacoma billowing
chiaroscuro, turnover—
each breath around town

The smell of pavement after rain,
quietly draining into grass

Whiffleball batted
to the porch, a kid passes
it back down below

Talking with the former nun
a soap bubble floats in my eye