Wind in the city / makes umbrellas into bowls / goblets full of rain

Fire glows in the hearth / Bread is broken, passed and shared / Many become one.

No one shares a smile / each alone on crowded streets. / Their dogs lick my hand.

Wind off the river / slides smoothly between buildings / An icy scalpel

The coffee-pot howls / A caffeinated daemon / fighting to be free

The cat is awake / he shows us his affection / We are awake too

The trees shed their clothes / naked against cold winter / until clad in snow

Alone in the dark / A soul sings a private song / A tree no one hears.

Ideas are precious / their theft is stealing a soul / We are naught but thought

Devour your joy / let it feed your life and soul / It will make you strong.

City rain sounds strange / No rustle marks its passing / No leaf slows its fall

Just before the dawn / the early birds meet night owls / while no one else stirs

Rain darkens the sky / In the wake of the brief storm / roads shine like jewels

By unnatural light / we shout in the wilderness / hoping for echoes

Smokers on the stoops / huddle around their small fires / trying to keep warm

Commuters fan out / radiating like sunbeams / from each subway stop.

The sky is empty / the street-lights and neon signs / frighten all the stars

Music lives in me / a private song guides my feet / My spirit dances

Chaos flows around / others run, jump, shout and dash / I strive to relax

Cold rain before dawn / rouses me from fitful sleep / Snow falls more gently.

We are all students / the entire world our teacher / To live is to learn.

Snow swirls on black roads / Its silence conjures music / It sounds like bagpipes.

Low sun in the sky / lights a cold winter morning / The red clouds look warm

Skyline silhouettes / tree branches are stark signposts / marking hidden paths

Trucks roll out at dawn / spreading salt on icy roads / Season's seasonings

The sword of the mind / lest it shatter on hard truths / needs gentle temper

Cat in the window / Lion sleeping on a rock / Wilderness at home

Glow of traffic lights / first green then yellow then red / blotting out the stars

Notes float in the air / from restaurants and pushcarts / Symphony of smells

Winter's white palette / in the sky and on the plate / The season's palate.

The sword of the will / cuts Gordian knots when sharp / Some knots should stay tied

Sol is sleeping late / Cold weather makes him feel old / Luna takes his shift

Plows shove snow aside / carve tunnels through snowy streets / as tall as my ears

Cold breath of winter / leads rime-covered cylinders / in sweet, simple songs

The cat wants breakfast / it doesn't matter what I want / I get out of bed

Janus waves goodbye / It's still cold, you two-faced swine! / Janus smiles hello

My wet hair freezes / walking in the frigid air / Coffee shall thaw it

Laughter of children / adds joy to the holidays / Now I have a cold

I hear the birds sing / I hear the rustle of leaves / without an iPod

Rude upthrust fingers / modern towers of Babel / spout pointless jargon

On lazy Sundays / coffee and the newspaper / delay the haiku

Dogs in winter coats / lead people around the block / trailing yellow snow

Alone in winter / walking past silent buildings / where summer stoops buzz

Snow under streetlights / the harsh roar of snowblowers / mark city winters

White stone and gray sky / shining head in the heavens / clay feet on the ground

Boots crunch on the snow / heading to the breakfast fire / breath mingles with smoke

Snow blankets the ground / the cold is a harsh rebuke / and yet the birds sing

Night falls on campus / the trees on the walk all glow / with Christmas remnants

Where were they going / leaving their tracks in fresh snow / before I awoke?

My love is away / half my heart is in darkness. / With whom shall I speak?

I walk with my thoughts / needing no silicon chip / to link to the world.

Snow melts on my face / as the flakes drift gently down / leaving winter tears.

Images shining / Sunlight casts shadows of faith / down on the faithful

Noise fills my kitchen / but without you, my dear love, / the house is silent

Stones amuse the stream / the current's dancing progress / is constant laughter

The city stands still / all our tech avails us not / against nature's force

Trees are clothed in snow / Winter's magic wand gives them / white fairy-tale gowns

Old man sun hangs low. / Today you get heat or light / I'm too tired for both

Old man sun hangs low. / "Today you get heat or light / I'm too tired for both."

Ice jackets the world / Freezing rain, hail and sleet / make you long for snow

Sleep eases all cares / The jangling of the alarm / shatters careless sleep

The future sounds great / I hope to see it one day. / We live in the now.

Ice lifts off in sheets / freeing the windshield with ease / to my great relief

We dance through our lives / each one of us listening / to unheard music

Cars slip into place / Rain-slick streets glow in the dark / A street-light flickers

Melting snow recedes / like miniature glaciers / leaving frozen trash

Hawk on a tree limb / surveys the cold street below / no rats can be seen.

The zombies are here. / Their earbuds and their smartphones / hunger for our brains

Sometimes time slows down / A Christmas tree lies curb-side / weeks after New Year

Perched in the window / the cat watches falling snow / pouncing against glass

Cold wind whips through me / scourging doubt and care leaving / arctic purity

Stacked books ensnare me / like a fly trapped in amber / embedded in words

Shouted words echo / in empty digital halls / fading to static

Spring brushes my cheek / gently wafting warmth and heat / vanishing unseen.

Smart phones weave patterns / apotropaic gestures / warding off boredom

Snow flakes pirouette / onto the window and die / leaving icy tears

Stone muse at the gate / Collar of snow at her neck / Twice frozen in stone

Today in the news / less airtime for Libya / than basketball scores

The scent, when brewing / of the strong coffee-tiger / stalks the room's corners

The cars yawn and stretch / dogs take their owners for walks / as the city wakes

Mailbox graffiti / written in uneven hand / 'Love thy everyone'

My wife and my cat / the paper and some coffee / Life is very good

Modern pariah / my greetings fall on deaf ears / drowned in plastic noise

Each dinner I make / paints love on the kitchen walls / with spatters of oil

Stock still in the street / traffic parting around her / hunched over her phone

With barking of horns / the cars chase each other's tails / Chain-smoking puppies

Trees in their boxes / in line like wooden soldiers / on the parade ground

I wake up confused / Darkness where once there was light. / Daylight savings time

Old women with crumbs / scatter them in empty streets / hoping birds will come

Dawn is an old friend / who drops by to share breakfast / but can't stay to talk

Gulls in the distance / fighting over their breakfast / with raucous squawking

Stone apostles gaze / in silent benediction / from cathedral nooks

A dog on his back / wriggling in the morning sun / the essence of joy

The tops of buildings / are misty ghosts in the sky / obscured by the fog

Outside my window / wet snow coats the passers-by / Spring-time in New York

In water below / turtles do calisthenics / lazy loops and rolls

Two drops hit the ground / umbrellas sprout like magic / mushrooms in the rain

Folk wisdom aside / a thousand words load faster / than one picture does

Vines crawl on the wall / softening the harsh edges / of a stone city

The street is empty / this city may never sleep / but sometimes it naps

Spring buds seem anxious / they hide in the soil and wait / dreaming of warm days

Salsa music plays / in a parked car in the rain / the sound of warm sun

Like green-bearded men / in a stand of bare-faced youths / the pines surprise me

In parka-clad throngs / my sandals garner strange looks / but it's spring, dammit!

Dogs don't mind the rain / their owners hate getting wet / Be more like the dogs

On the rain slick streets / children cocooned in plastic / like bubble-packed dolls

the dew-spangled trees / shine like crystals at day-break / awaiting the sun

Your friends are legion / If one hailed you in the street / would you know his voice?

Daffodils arise! / Cast off your earthen shackles / and shine like the sun!

Nested between us / surrounded by warmth and love / the cat spends the night

Swords flash in the rain / in quick staccato rhythms / glittering like fish

Cherry blossom tree / on a highway median / perfumes only cars

Down a different street / a whole new world opens up / just a block away

Nesting birds take flight / some carry bits of garbage / bigger than they are

At last Spring is here! / Don't believe the calendar / Spring is a fragrance

Supers hose sidewalks / take clean water for granted / raise ghosts of unease

Montreux is in flames / children are saved by Claude Nobs / band records a song

We share a good meal / Civilization is built / on this friendship rite

Ideas like arrows / fly in the seminar room / seeking after truth

Warm rain from on high / nourishes all earthly things / and gladdens the heart

Some days are surreal / earth-shaking news rocks the land / but the birds don't care

Flowers rub shoulders / colours riot in the park / celebrating Spring

The wind speaks to me / telling tales of his journeys / in fragrant language

In city canyons / one side shines and one is dark / solar yin and yang

Laughing at nothing / the crazy man talks to air / then I see the phone

A Hummer drives by / on the streets of Manhattan / smug smog in its wake

Seasons are changing / the first waterbug of Spring / appeared in my sink

Free cheese and free wine / attract hordes of grad students / at semester's end

Where once winter snows / draped the bare trees in white gowns / fresh blossoms clothe them

Stretching to the sky / buildings poke holes in the clouds / to let the rain out

Alone with my thoughts / the wired world seems distant / from these rainy streets

Mouse on the sidewalk / hustling like the rest of us / trying to get by

After the rain stops / the birds return to the air / singing their relief

When springtime arrives / smokers blossom like flowers / outside of buildings

A ballet of cars / dodge alternate side parking / with synchronized swoops

Somewhere up the street / a hose has been left running / streams in the gutter

Little squares of green / five by five and full of life / punch through the sidewalk

Songs run through my brain / the soundtrack of my morning / needing no iPod

Kilt season is here / unbifurcated garments / are not just for girls

As rush hour begins / the cheerful chirping of birds / yields to snarls of cars

Above children's heads / garbage hangs on razor wire / until the rain comes

The smells of summer / invade Broadway with the scent / of freshly mown grass

Cool breeze off the sea / pulls the sting from summer's tail / with salt spray kisses

Sunny streets bustle / at times once dark and dismal / now bright and early

Twenty year old band / still sounds good forty years on / Thank you, Billy Shears

Wind nips at my knees / welcome relief after noon / but chilly at dawn

A Champagne bottle / empty on the median / drunk-driving deluxe

Cris-crossing the bed / the cat deigns to sleep with me / while my wife is gone

The heat swirls like fog / surrounding our cool buildings / fighting to get in

Outside the café / commuters wrestle the heat / as I sip and watch

Darkness comes early / the storm draws a gray curtain / across the day's heat

Cabs honk as they pass / trawling slowly for riders / I prefer to walk

Smell of baking bread / floats gently from room to room / feeds body and soul

Some mornings are slow / a gentle walk into day / et puis, le deluge

The train thunders by / all the conversation stops / while the rails vibrate

Awoken by rain / I watch drops on glass form paths / to lead me to sleep

The sounds of summer / music, dancing and laughter / gunshots in the night

The early risers / smokers, dog-walkers and me / prowl the morning streets

After the rain comes / blessed relief from the heat / for a little while

Hot, still and muggy / makes for an unsettled night / plagued with restless dreams

Bounty of the Earth / manifest in shades of green / multitude of hues

Outside my window / birds squabble loudly at dawn / confusing the cat

The world on a wire / appears before me each day / Epic Luddite Fail

Somewhere in the night / almost too softly to hear / a bairn is crying

The end is in sight / after many weeks of work. / Mas margaritas!

Small mountains of trash / their peaks lost in clouds of flies / spill into the street

Mosquitos and sweat / battle for domination / of my exposed skin

Sweat beads on my glass / refracting and reflecting / the afternoon sun

People ooze complaints / as Heat's giant whine press works / with ruthless pressure

The fan slowly spins / wooden knives whisper at night / carving the wet air

When dark days draw nigh / the world spins on uncaring / giving odd comfort

Through an open door / surprising odor of mint / pierces city stink

The pundits all say / not heat but humidity / my hair must agree

Thoughts skirl like bagpipes / clashing and clasping to make / haunting melody

An open hydrant / taxicabs park in the spray / as wet children play

Cool breeze on the piers / lights on the opposite shore / sparkle like fishes

I carry no phone / so Murdoch can not hack it / Score one for Luddites.

We swim through the streets / breathing dense air, hot as blood / praying for some rain

The heat presses down / the city sleeps fitfully / dreaming of cool winds

The streets come alive / as night scares the heat away / until the next day

Dogs strain at leashes / now the heat wave has broken / they enjoy their walks

Tents bloom in the street / the tents are lush oases / Market day today

Waving and pointing / a woman lectures a wall / her phone to her ear

Feral cats at play / in the park after midnight / teasing a huge rat

The trees spread their arms / holding the heat overhead / at least for a while

Around the campfire / shadows merge, then fall silent / then drift off to bed

Outside on the ground / a constellation of butts / scattered by smokers

Wind whips through the night. / Resisting natures fury / a thin canvas wall

Wind whips through the night. / Resisting nature's fury / a thin canvas wall

Outside my AC / the steaming streets rebuke me / for chaining nature

The hissing of steam / sings the torment of damned beans / weeping espresso

Waterbug scurries / until crushed beneath my heel / who is in the right?

Parents with strollers / jog to get their exercise / as their children sleep

Cellphone in his hand / a cyclist surfs the sidewalk / blindly reading texts

In sacred precincts / surrounded by years of books / breathing in wisdom

A small piney shrub / twinkles with holiday lights / even in August

The cat hunts the wind / his pounce on the storm outside / is stopped by the glass

Thoughts skip like thrown stones / across the shifting surface / of my restless mind

The weather has turned / Autumn was blown in early / by hurricane winds

The words slip away / and chasing them is futile / write about the chase

High above my head / the birds discuss the weather / with their morning meal

My own fashion law / no kilts after labor day / the rain confirmed it

Cool September days / usher in rainy gray clouds / and the new school year

Soggy dogs frolic / while their damp owners huddle / under umbrellas

The flowers burst forth / a small floral eruption / athwart the sidewalk

The turn of a leaf / marks the end of a tale, but! / a new beginning

The first day of school / still sparks a frisson of fear / after all these year

Arranged in neat rows / trees live their lives in boxes / concrete forest shade

Words still have power / use your word-hoard carefully / lest words become dross

Little girl runs by / her backpack as big as she / on her way to school

An autumnal scarf / drifts down around my shoulders / with slow-falling leaves

Skirts slowly vanish / flying south for the winter / leaving pants behind

Alone with my thoughts / the smell of coffee wafting / as morning begins

After the deluge / a sad, one-armed tree points south / crippled by Irene

Warm weather lingers / wrapping the sleeping city / in a wet blanket

Leaves begin to fall / as autumn invades the streets / painting the town red

A decade and more / I have woken beside you / each day a fresh joy

Songs play in my head / my steps are a metronome / backbeat for the blues

My morning begins / with a feline visitor / demanding breakfast

As gentle rain falls / children hear the clash of swords / and are drawn like bees

The songs are scarce now / the birds are saving their breath / to keep themselves warm

Heaps of trash appear / as regular as heartbeats / waiting for pickup

Staring at darkness / as night begins to linger / alarm clock ringing

arriving early / isolated with coffee / in empty office

Cat, wife and coffee / three of my favorite things / all in the same room

We do not see time. / We feel the days slip past us / but not the seconds

Girl sings to herself / with butterfly wing earphones / encasing her head

Flowers in boxes / resisting seasonal change / bloom red and yellow

Rain just before dawn / is a secret shared by few / felt and heard, not seen.

Nestled in the trees / stoplights cycle through seasons / green, yellow and red

Schools of commuters / heads, down, play games and check mail / as they swim to work

Traffic is honking / voices drift to my window / lunchtime crowds the streets

Trapped in my warm bed / by a covers-hogging cat / I twist and hit snooze

Garbage bags shimmy / as hungry rats scrounge for food / and then race away

The lure of the woods / becomes too strong to resist / solitude calls me

The ashes are cold / the fire lies buried in snow / and silence descends

Up before the dawn / moving in unnatural light / waiting for the sun

The City burns bright / no wonder it never sleeps / with all these lights on

Mounds of frozen trash / stand like neolithic tombs / for last night's dinner

Daylight has been saved / and no longer in darkness / do I wake each morn

Warm autumn evenings / wash memories of snowfall / into the gutter

She slaps down her card / a Hello Kitty Visa / to buy cigarettes

Invisible trains / rumble off in the distance / heartbeat of the town

Sound of the steamer / gives Pavlovian twitches / as lunchtime draws nigh

Twitter loads slowly / as outrage floods out over / protest ejected

Stretching and twinging / my sore back wakes up slowly / and can't drink coffee

Today smells like fall / something indefinable / appeared overnight

A single rosebush / blooms in a rearguard action / 'gainst winter's attack

A wet Santa hat / lies lonely on the sidewalk / before Thanksgiving

Blind lions gaze down / silent growls carved in cold stone / high on building walls

Hammer and sickle / traced in dust on a window / waiting for the train

Tiny little girl / alone on the crowded train / eating Doritos

Film crews block my path / a clipboard panopticon / insulates the set

Cold dagger of wind / slices beneath my jacket / freezing my belly

Shopkeepers with brooms / fight supers with leaf-blowers / to defend their turf

Cider smells drift out / across the cold market stalls / promising some warmth

On neighborhood streets / familiar faces greet you / beggars are landmarks

cars move out ten feet / the dance of the street cleaners / and then they return

Are most New Yorkers / like the Wicked, Western, Witch? / Do they melt in rain?

Craft is what you do / And while you are doing it / Art sometimes happens

Cabs hurtle downtown / stalking commuters like wolves / bypassing Harlem

As weather turns cold / sidewalks become emptier / of people and birds

Parking spots appear / silence descends earlier / gown is leaving town

A plastic owl stares. / With no pigeons to frighten / he must be lonely

In morning dimness / lights twinkle on the far shore / beckoning me on

Green shrubs cluster close / around the skeletal feet / of a leafless tree

Steam bubbles away / bringing smells of meat and grain / into the office

The battle begins / over control of the bed. / The cat always wins

Bits fall in buckets / sites fail to load, mail is lost. / Happy Holidays

In the pre-dawn light / wet streets are slickly shining / on my solitude

The train sways gently / lulling me quickly to sleep / as the miles roll by

Mountains blue and white / loom on the western skyline / casting long shadows

Crisp afternoon air / awakens those senses dulled / by a long day's work

Evergreens wither / dead trees litter the sidewalk / slaughtered for Christmas

My old friend Winter / has settled in for a chat / feet up by the fire

Old buildings can talk / steam pipes whisper in the night / cold bones creak softly

Picking through trash bags / invisible in the rain / the street people work

Cart loaded with cans / stacked up taller then he is / he rolls down the street

My words are my own / SOPA would obscure them by / poisoning the well

Cat on the bedspread / like a thousand pound dead weight / how does he do that?

Head down and texting / forcing people to dodge him / oblivious ass

The streets are crawling / with cognitive dissonance / parkas and short skirts

A biker speeds by / racing down the one way street / the wrong direction

Light rain is falling / only dog-walkers and I / lack for umbrellas

Hot coffee and tea / mark the moments of my day / punctuating work

Cheese and dry cured meat / delay gratification / as they hang and age

The cat leaves the bed / seeking out warmer pastures / atop the heat vent

My wife and my cat / fall asleep in the armchair / a book by their side

The cat in the bath / watches my morning shower / and looks bewildered

The best time to drive / between New York and Boston? / Superbowl Sunday

Soup simmers gently / hot toddy is near to hand / coziness abounds

A bold pigeon stares / looking up from his bread crumbs / but holding his ground

A dusting of snow / sparkles on the evergreens / like frozen dewdrops

The weekend beckons / a welcoming host smiling / at tomorrow's door

Weekends spent with friends / simply chatting and laughing / are weekends well spent

My wife and I wake / and perform our morning chores / while the cat sleeps in

Small shoots are forming / gracing skeletal branches / the trees think it's Spring

A pigeon takes flight / the wind from his thrashing wings / throws grit in my eyes

In the cloudy dawn / porch lights are still glimmering / long after sunrise

Winter speaks softly / in the scrape of a dry leaf / wind-blown on concrete

On crystal mornings / visions of gossamer wings / floating in the dawn

The tea breathes softly / honeyed breath of the Far East / wafts up to my nose

Empty halls echo / with solitary footsteps / as I walk alone

Ideas float slowly / down a placid stream of thoughts / enjoying the ride

Slick streets are silent / rain stifles conversation / except for the birds

Old dog in the street / waits for me to scratch his head / while young dog gambols

A nice cup of tea / is chasing the chill away / and warming my hands

The bread is rising / the playful cat is sleeping / the tea is steeping

The towers sparkle / thrusting proudly to the sky / sunlight on cold stone

The day sweeps by me / flying past dirty windows / on wings of pigeons

The clocks are all changed / leaping forward into spring / my brain lags behind

Silence surrounds me / now broken by traffic sounds / shattering the still

Lazy days of spring / are too warm far too early / confusing the plants

Morning fog lingers / dawdling over his coffee / in a friend's kitchen

A misty morning / glamorizes the city / muting hard edges

A tempest of friends / fills my sails and drives my life / to islands of joy

Trees bloom in the park / with gently scented halo / of soft sea-foam white

Gentle yellow waves / of slow swaying daffodils / wash along the park

green leaves stretch sunward / drawing heat and light to them / warming chilly stems

Blind hope in the mail / now means waiting for something / Amazonian

Bold pigeons squabble / spilt Indian takeaway / their spoils of war

Small birds on both sides / all singing in stereo / line my promenade

With chill wind blowing / even the birds save their breath / trying to stay warm

Shadow of a tail / lashes on the wall behind / a contented cat

Branches wave on high. / On the barren trunk below / a single green shoot

Woman, thumbs twitching / logged-on and oblivious / steps into traffic

The morning alarm / is the soft steps and mews of / a querulous cat

Shimmering jewels / clinging to leaves and branches / in the morning rain

The ship of my day / although buffeted by storms / is come safely home

Bare toes shivering / in unseasonable chill / in misjudged sandals

Rain drenched streets are still / solitary and silent / save for soft splashing

For a few moments / even the City feels fresh / after the rain stops

Old forgotten books / huddle lonely on their shelves / growing dusty beards

A fat squirrel stares / then waddles across my path / looking for breakfast

Wearing cap and gown / in an academic scrum / students celebrate

The wind in the trees / dances among the branches / then leaps to the sea