Gary Gach

A LICK OF RASPBERRY ICE CREAM SNATCHED FROM CREMATORY FLAME empty wrapper his favorite incense still fragrant the great matter body laid out in zen priest's robes "like a gigantic cicada" sung itself utterly out yet his big heart how still so warm in memoriam zenhsin ryufu philip whalen samadhi gate     the heat a mere cloud wisp in blue sky a slight migraine the heat : branches rocking lazily. listless leaves quavering. the heat - taking tiny steps, licking a popsicle the foot of mt. tam dips its toes in the water ; the september heat at the foot of mt. tam young white heron tiptoes on ... the still reflections

Gary Gach is editor of What Book!? ~ Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism. His work has appeared in American Poetry Review, City Lights Review, Evergreen Review, Poems for the Millennium, Technicians of the Sacred, Two Lines, and Zyzzyva. He's currently gathering haiku by and for kidults. His homepage is: .i.n.t.e.r.b.e.i.n.g..