GECKO LUCK

GECKO LUCK

In the islands, everybody believes 

that geckos bring good luck. 

Mokoli'i means lizard Island.

I am carrying damp eucalyptus wood
to the redwood hot tub up the hill. 

Two geckos slither down my arm 

another slides down my leg. 

I am covered with red mud 

and the TV camera is rolling.
I'm dreaming in geckos and it all
comes true. Mokoli'i everywhere.

Later, I'm at a party in Kula 

with Will, Jacques, and Gary. 

We are talking about Haleakalā,

the plight of the flightless geese,
and feral pigs eroding the island.
On a painting two geckos are dancing 

on a checkerboard. At home, 

a solitary gecko chucks at midnight. 

6/1983   6/1-6, 83 could be any of those dates

Maui Zendo

added 9.15.2016 edited slightly


TWO GARDENIAS

after hauling wood all morning
I sit in the hot tub, grateful for its warmth
two gardenias break the surface like heavenly farts. 

6/6/83?


LONG DISTANCE CALL

Calling My friend Zara on the Mainland
2600 miles away, I exclaim
your voice sounds like
it's coming from underwater

6/1/83?

not sure of the date, whether I wrote it in Hawaii or right after I returned. (I wrote Eminent Domain around this time too.)  I left Maui right before the Deep Ecology Conference. Bad luck of the draw, had to catch my plane to the mainland. I should've just stayed.

It sounds like a dream sequence. But I really did move logs to the tub and there were geckoes everywhere. I don't remember if Gary Snyder was in the hot tub too. Probably. It was a big ordeal to fire up that redwood tank. There were only cold showers at the zendo, so a soak was a luxury. I floated gardenias in the water.

I may revise this. But for now, I'm just trying to get work online.