After Thanksgiving,
 
a freshly raked Zen garden
 
hosts a dead oak leaf.

 
 
 

On Valentine’s Day
 
a crow in my neighbor’s oak
 
croaks out sweet nothings.

 
 
 

Wider and deeper,
 
even during the winter,
 
the oak spreads its roots.

On the year’s first day

the last leaves fall from the oak,

obscuring my path.

 
 
 

A crow in the oak
 
manages to croak out news
 
of a baby’s birth.

 
 
 

On a gusty day
 
the last leaves quake and tremble
 
high up in the oak.

 
 
 

Gusty autumn day—
 
only a few dozen leaves
 
still cling to the oak.

 
 
 

On an August day
 
I seek respite from the sun—
 
shadows of the oak.

 
 
 

In the oak tree’s shade
 
a homeless man and his dog
 
take a midday nap.

 

 
 
 

I quiet myself,
 
hoping the oak tree will share
 
its secrets with me.