Ray Cicetti

Ray Cicetti’s poems have been published in a variety of journals including Tiferet, Exit 13, Stillwater Review, and The Galway Poetry Review among others. He also contributed the chapter “A Journey Toward Awakening: Self-Relations and Mindfulness,” in the sourcebook Walking in Two Worlds, edited by Gilligan and Simon. A featured poet in various reading series, Ray is also a teacher in the Zen Buddhist tradition and senior teacher at the Empty Bowl Zen Community. He currently lives in northern New Jersey with his wife Carolyn.

To September

I say your name
but you’re already here,
in the fallen leaves,
the lengthening nights.
On an empty beach,
a lone fisherman casts his line
into what he does not know.
Swallows gather for their long flight south
above the bent brown grass.
The shadowed fields carry insects’ chants.
The osprey nest over the green meadow
filled now only with moonlight.

Cacio e Pepe

The waiter smooths the linen tablecloth,
puts the pasta in front of me,
then spoons Pecorino over it.
I give him a thumbs up.
My napkin smiles at me.
The fork and spoon sing.
My senses carry me to another world—
my grandmother’s house.
How she stood happy at the kitchen table
as I twirled the pasta that fell
like sunlight over the plate.
And for a few moments
I am not in despair that whatever
comes together comes apart—
how many days I’ve spent, restless,
in search of what I already have.