DECOMPOSITION
Framed in the upended triangle
of the dead pine’s
now un-
grasping
roots a cluster of
larkspur perfectly composed.
__________
SMALL TALK
Death and beauty and
the of of each
gives us
all we
need to say
then takes it all away.
—from Rattle #36, Winter 2011
Tribute to Buddhist Poets
__________
John Brehm: “I started writing these short, six-line poems as a counterpoint to my longer, talkier poems. They’re very much influenced by the 12th century Japanese poet Saigyo, a captain of the imperial guard who abandoned palace life to become a wandering Buddhist monk.” (website)