Sunday, March 15, 2026

RONALD BAATZ ~

 




Their ashes

where my father used to kneel

planting

where my mother used to bend

picking




As she puts

water on for tea

from my own pile

of bones and ashes

I reassess hers





In a crowded mountain bus

the endlessly monotonous

talk about Buddhist scriptures

when all I want to listen to

are the wheels on the road





The degrees to which

the closed fairgrounds

brings n even more

spellbinding beauty

to the sunset





In early spring mist

my lover floats across fields

from one dream

of sweet grass

to another





Our old

peacefully

decaying bodies

talking to children

selling lemonade





For anyone who sings

by  small window

in a small room

in the depths of

dying light





In the bedroom

sweeping up popcorn

from the night before

I see the hopeful eyes

of birds in the window



_____________________________

Ronald Baatz

One Oblivious Orange Fish

Black Fig Press, 2026