by D Shapiro
From a distance the wide leaves of the young coconut tree arched like banana fronds.
But upon approaching one could see the shadow of the tree’s sharply defined needles woven into the grass.
by D Shapiro
From a distance the wide leaves of the young coconut tree arched like banana fronds.
But upon approaching one could see the shadow of the tree’s sharply defined needles woven into the grass.
by D Shapiro
Comments from 2018
A water bug scurries
Across a pond, interrupting
The reflection of a decaying tree
by D Shapiro
Drizzle
On a damp leash
a small black dog leads
a rigid unsmiling old man
by Deane H. Shapiro, Jr
The stage is a small one room apartment. What strikes one immediately is the simplicity of the room…almost Spartan in appearance. There is no furniture in the main room. Two people are sleeping on futons. Upon each is an elaborately designed and multi-colored tie dye blanket. To the right, backstage, separating the main room from the kitchen (which is off stage back and only imagined) is a book shelf, and in various spaces within, are tastefully placed sea shells and coral—green, blue, red twigs—like underwater life.
by D Shapiro
LECH LECHA
(Hebrew melody meaning “Go forth”)
This poem was written during a conference in 1990 in Holland at a gathering of meditation teachers from different traditions: Sufi, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Taoist, Buddhist
It is a poem about particular paths pointing to the Universal One. There are three stanzas of Chinese Linked verse, each stanza contexted by two words of the Shema
Shema Israel/Adonai Eloheinu/Adonai Echad
Listen to that part of you who wrestle with and toward God; God who is distant and impersonal, God who is close and near us; all these: we who wrestle, the far God, the near God…..Echad (are One).
by D Shapiro
In fear we trust
in trust we fear
Gulping, gasping
for air….
flailing, as if trying to swim, stay afloat,
but fear sinking back
underwater,
Sh-t! Hardly poised and courageous
Breathe…remember, Lao-Tzu said
the Tao is also in the excrement
by D Shapiro
Black droppings on white pages
Mirror
Water in
Black trashcans freckled with white bird dung
Reflecting