ANNOUNCEMENT: New e-book

Oh, I am madly excited!!! My poetry collection, SECRET LEOPARD: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1974-2005, has just been reissued as an ebook, via my favourite publisher Content X Design. (Thank you, Delaina and Kristin!) 

 You can get it for only $2.99 USD in whatever format suits you (mobi for Kindle, epub for other e-readers or pdf for your computer). 

 Lots of wonderful poems, if I do say so myself :) and you won't find them on my blog! 

(There are still a VERY few paperback copies left which I am now selling for $10 USD — and to Aussies $10 AUD — plus postage. You'll have to message me if you want one of them.) 

Here is the link to the ebook.

My cat sleeps

my cat sleeps well

on the couch beside me

I am safety

They cascade

they cascade

warm orange bright gold

down the vase

spilling fresh fragrance 
my friend's nasturtiums

Mystery Unsolved

I step outside 

to the immediate strong smell of smoke

but none to see.

Clear blue skies in every direction

are interrupted 

by the tops of hills and mountains.

The quiet street

is undisturbed.

When I step back inside the smell is gone.

(I could get in my car and go hunting

but there's coffee here

and a book to read.)

On Sphinx Rock

On Sphinx Rock 

sunlight catches 

two jutting crags.

Against the dark mass 

of head-shaped scrub

they gleam like fangs.

Small Black Cat

small black cat

gazes up at me
ears alert

Trying out techniques from 'IN THE WAY OF BASHO' ebook by Chevrefeuille at Carpe Diem. This one is 'shasei' (sketch): 'to depict the thing just as it is'.

Asserting Ownership

The small cat settles 

beside me on the bed,

relaxes and closes her eyes. 

It could be accidental 

when she stretches out

touching both her hind feet 

to my leg. It could be ... 

but when I shift a little,

she stretches once more, 

eyes tightly closed,

and pushes her feet firmly 

back against my leg.

Linking to the current Tuesday Platform at 'imaginary garden with real toads'

Visitors from the garden, please note that I have not changed my blog layout and title. This is a different blog from the one you are used to.