fat in the frying pan

water and fat in the pan
August, 2010

whiskey glasses

at the Black Door, Montpelier, May 2009 Daniel Wetmore

light on water

the trip to Block Island, October, 2008 Daniel Wetmore

no less certain

no less certain
than the moon
my candle is brighter
and fills the room
with light
and shadows

the evidence

the evidence
was incontrovertible
this morning
a sweetness
in the cider
which took all doubt away
all frenzy

it spoke
of worlds spinning
and blood flowing
of anchors holding fast
and rusting
of salt
and light
and suns burning
and wounds that heal

a dog’s tooth

while sorting my papers I found a page ripped from a book with
a Tibetan saying on it, and an English translation:

where there is veneration
even a dog’s tooth emits light

and then a day later in my desk I find a little handsewn pouch with a drawstring.
Inside is a collection of dog’s teeth, from a skull I found on Block Island
so of course one of the teeth sits on my window and
now I am following veneration back to its roots,
since I can’t pursue the Tibetan word.
Tho I will when I find someone who knows the word.

in Hasidism everything is filled with light, fire actually,
not just people or living beings. Everything contains
the fire of God. Knowing/believing that can change how
you live in the world. I see it as metaphor but that
does not diminish the awe I feel concerning our
common existence. Or the pain, especially now as
the ice floes melt beneath the feet of the polar bear
and the carnage continues in Iraq and Sudan and…
To maintain a vision of that light in the easy darkness,
good work if you can find it.

lattice light

light through lattice, back porch, 2008

under the streetlight

under the streetlight
ten thousand snowflakes
tiny white butterflies
fall dying to the ground