milky way

after rain
worms in the sun
reaching

the flat of a leaf
gathers dust

lake swim
my black ass touching
the moon

in this bowl of soup
my ancestors

homeless
this big Georgia sun
hits different

when worshiping nimbus!
bow first, then dance!

cicada
summer dreams
of you too

sick of waiting
i ask the river

belly
first i learn to breathe
again

hibiscus reddening
my father's silence

slow dusk
in the dragonfly's shadow
the dragon

everything aches:
even mountains

spring
arriving early . . .
for therapy

cold spell ending
the mosquitos fall

storming . . .
the friends I thought
would last

five brave sparrows
gathered at my feet

holding on
to the wrong things,
drifting clouds

hitting the squirrel
my squirrel mind stops

new leaves
between the gaps,
old gods

what she says, what I hear
the business of crows

dawn
what is a haiku?
yawn

weeds, I confront
the fascist inside

a cop car
drives into the crowd,
election year

cooler, a few birds
fleeing the state

battleworn,
the river swallows
the stone

leaving for work, I pack
my white voice

gunshots:
the sky splattered
with clouds

autumn in a world
devils go by name

in a field
once filled with wheat:
fresh corpses

sippin black tea
no sugar moon

dysregulated:
the pines uncaring
kind of care

if I could do it all over
bare feet in the grass

pre-dawn
one bird devouring
deities

my skin, darker
in the officer's gaze

the tūī
eating blossoms,
like a hokku

barely getting by
I chew on a poem

————————
Laurence Stacey
Dick Whyte