Tanka
-
a misty rain
a misty rainand the smudge of mountainpaints a little death . . .you bring me the oceancradled within your arms -
along this path
along this path
a bellbird chimes descant
to my footsteps —
she listens to the way
I sing inside my head
-
by autumn light
by autumn light
the flicker of child fingers
shadow dancing beads . . .
a mayfly upon the stream
your words ripple through silence -
entering the mist
entering the mist
I become so at one
with mere being
that, with the forming of shapes
and words, it slips away -
mountain silence
mountain silence,
I will get to hear
the shifts of light . . .
I am well versed in the paths
of your valley mists -
see how time
see how time
reshapes my silhouette
cast by moonlight . . .
far away a half moon
rises out of my past -
the dew drop
the dew drop
hanging still from the leaf . . .
it would not be
had not my own eyes
been tinted by dawn -
where are you, old friend?
where are you, old friend?
are you still the twinkling eye?
the echo of words?
I sound out the hieroglyphs
that carve your name into stone