dream

I dream of you but 
you are not a dream.
Photo: Napier bed, New Zealand
Text: The end of Love Poem by Gregory O'Brien

dry hot dry

A dry time.  
Grass is yellowing,
wisteria leaves falling.
We woke up this morning
and saw a double rainbow,
but only spits of hot rain.
I once called summer
a giant snail.  
Photo: City bench, Napier, New Zealand

a bright return

One morning we came upon these bright trees.
The orange-red is the flame tree, also in Hong Kong.
And the blue flowered one is jacaranda,
a tree I once knew in Los Angeles
and had almost forgotten.
Photo: In Napier, New Zealand

hello radio

I will go to a radio station today. I like 
not seeing everyone I am talking to,
and the feel of headphones 
on the ear, over the thoughts.
Photo: No parking here, New Zealand

live, alive

Last night, live music.
So alive.
Photo: Roses in our garden, New Zealand

8 + 1

Yesterday's gone.
Photo: A horse, numbered, branded
New Zealand

on the first day

The foal can stand 
on the first day of life,
but spends a lot of time
resting at the mother's side.
Photo: At a neighbor's stable, New Zealand

moist

I feel rain.
Photo: My road, New Zealand

One Pacific

We walked to the log-seat,

and then a bit onward, eastward, 
to the sea, the same large sea 
we once walked westward to,
how many years ago.
Photo: The Pacific, Napier, New Zealand
and remembering Moss Beach, California

hey!

I once saw an ad 'Hey for sale' 
and I both smiled and cringed.
Photo: Hay, New Zealand

I need to write

I write to know 
what I know.
Photo: Installation (excerpt) 
by Wong Yankwai, Hong Kong

kindness

Over a year ago, I met the man
who lives in this room. Our eyes  
shared a kindness, and I wish him,
I wish us, many wishes.
Photo: A room in Shamshuipo, Hong Kong
He paid more per square foot than I did in rent,
though my income was far higher than his.

tree to tree

Once upon a time, the treetop
was below the window. 
A man I know would walk 
the wooded hills and swing 
tree to tree.
Photo: I's and H's and K's 
childhood home, New Zealand

peep peep

One day, we played 
and peeped
and played.
Photo: B in a field, Carterton