John Slater
Salt Creek
Ginkgo stump sprouts
a seedling its
rubbery amoeba-
shaped leaf a round
cut-out by Matisse.
*
Shade-line made by
bridge flecked
blue-green walls
rippling up off water
boat frames afloat
shoreside – duckweed
in blurred raincloud
mosaic: each
smudged pointillist
dot of citrus, aqua
jasmine.
*
Run-off from roof-
edge cuts a
clean line through
tiny bright
orange leaves and
seedpods off
locust on
rain-wet sidewalk.
*
Cool Whip hosed off
cannery walls and
spread on river-sand
flats will spill into
Salt Creek stream across
moss-covered rock in
tree-shade flicker of
reflecting sky.
John Slater is the author of a full-length collection, "Surpassing Pleasure," a chapbook, "Lean," and, most recently, co-translator of "This and That: Short Poems of Zen Master Ryokan." His work has appeared in various journals, including PN Review, Drunken Boat, and Juked.