haiku
wind and August sun
Upper Tamarack Lake. . .
duck floats in diamonds
summer
gold red peaches
firm, waiting
last plums picked,
silver ladder lost in leaves
beneath bright sky
Canada geese fly and clamour
morning pours
glittering from the sun
Michael
I saw Michael Sheldon
in a dream again.
I got right to business
knowing he could disappear
as quickly as he
appeared and asked him
so you can play music
where you are now?
and you're playing?
oh yes he said
and he asked is yellow
a good color for me?
oh yes I said
it's very good for you.
(I remember him in his
yellow tank shirt and how he
looked like sunshine
coming through my door.)
his blue eyes shone crystal
as they did when he was
here with us.
I wanted to touch him.
can I touch you when you
visit like this? I asked.
oh yes he said.
he stood still and near,
smile steady.
my hand floated up
and like a wing lowered
onto his shoulder.
he was strong
beneath his light shirt.
Michael
it is so good to see you.
will you come visit me
from time to time?
oh yes he said.
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Leslye Layne Russell, northern California poet, is also a performing singer and guitarist, and experienced minimalist dancer. Her two poetry books, A Quiet Place and Ku Mountain, will be out in early 2001. In 1969 Layne received her degree in English from Chico State where she studied poetry and writing with George Keithley. She did post-graduate work in Religious Studies at CSU, Chico, and in the Arts and Religious Studies at Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado. Layne's poetry has appeared in many poetry journals since she began publishing her work in 1996. After living in Sonoma County for twenty-six years where she raised her two daughters and stepson, Layne recently moved to Redding with her husband, guitarist James Russell, and their blue-eyed Lynx Point Siamese, Sky. Layne's extensive poetry web site, A Quiet Place, can be found at http://whiteowlweb.com.
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