children – tinywords

I pause to watch
the moon riding the clouds
the boy tugs my hand

free from school
the chalk dances
across the sidewalk

museum hall
children study
their echoes

Pelham Parkway
between the winter trees
the child’s breath

painting class
children color each other
into laughter

an old woman sweeps
the walk of cherry blossoms
children’s laughter

teaching my sons
to skip river stones
ripples converge

first recital

               all the ballerinas out of step

ceiling mirror
between screams I see
my child being born

Shiki Monthly Kukai, February, 2011