​January
 
On New Year’s Day, half
Way to the horizon, a
Whale sprouts and breaches.
 
A goat and a horse
Take shelter together in
The heavy downpour.
 
 
February
 
Black crabs slither off
A foamy rock as the tide
Rolls in at twilight.
 
In bright morning light
A peacock, feathers fanned, stands
In a mango tree.
 
March
 
Under the new moon
Rainclouds scurry and a frog
Hops in the wet grass.
 
A turtle crawls out
Of the pond to stretch his neck
In afternoon light.
April
 
From the tops of tall
Old maples, the calls of crows
Sound like wounded men.
 
May
 
A damp day in May:
A white egret looks like two
In the still, dark pond.
 
June
 
From their nest in the
Deep grass, the albatross pair
Gaze at the ocean.
 
July
 
A cardinal watches
As a mongoose comes to sip
From the sprinkler head.
 
Hundreds of mynahs
Chatter at dawn. The full moon
Sinks into the sea.
 
August
 
Plumerias scent
The night. The full moon hovers
Over the dark waves.
 
Wild rose blossoms float
In the dark water.
Turtles push up their noses.
 
September
 
As a rooster crows,
The pink sunrise fills the sky
Over the gray sea.
 
October
 
A mimosa in
Bloom shades the crumbling stones of
The old sugar mill.
 
Light trades and smooth seas--
The canoes leave Molokai
For far Oahu.
 
November
 
Cows and egrets feed
In the damp meadow under
The monkeypod trees.
 
From the horizon
To the sandy beach: golden
Light from the full moon.
 
December
 
A wasp floats inside
With the trade winds and settles
In the Christmas tree.