"Black"

My poem, "Black," was recently published by the online journal Riverbabble. The poem was inspired by a five-day silent meditation retreat I did at the Vedanta Society of Northern California's Olema retreat.

BLACK

I have dwelt in the blackbird                                       

Guillevic

in the lowering light I watch a lone deer
cross the dry grass, tail

the same black as the crows which keep
calling from far-off trees, columns 

of black 
last night, no stars, 
another bad dream
my pupil in the mirror, the bull in the field

the quail’s single black head-feather
bobbing near the bush with the black-
striped bees

this poem—black cursive in a black journal

beside me, blackberries

picked along the path