MUSINGS ON A CLOSING DAY
I move my chair
to observe Mt. Fuji-
monstrous perfection
topped with the cooling crust
of spring snows.
Languid movement
of a branch,
like a geisha
unfurling her arm
from a gray kimono,
makes petals fall,
a scented, pink snow
covering my upturned face
with careless kisses.
Timid winds caress
my limbs,
a fleeting relief
to tired bones
brittle now with
a sullen defeat of life.
Raked sand of garden
waves barely disturbed
by feet like two gray stones
as grains flow
round ankles.
I realize once again
I am no obstacle to
the sands of time.
My heart is quieted
by the passage of nothing
for in this nothing
is revealed the fullness of life.
Jane Kohut-Bartels,
copyrighted, 2011, from White Cranes of Heaven, Lulu.com
Tags: Jane Kohut-Bartels, Japan, Mt. Fuji, poetry, White Cranes of Heaven 2011 Lulu.com
August 6, 2014 at 10:25 am
sigh. what a lovely poem to wake up to, even though it’s about a closing day. There is relief in knowing we are no obstacle to the sands of time, but that those sands are also bits of us. xo CS
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August 6, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Thank you, CS….it seems to be an appropriate poem for this period. thank you for reading and your comment. I like how your thoughts have deepened this poem for me. I learn much more from readers about the inners of a poem…than I an ever know at conception. And that is very comforting to me.
Hugs, Jane
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August 8, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Really thankfull for sharing your amazingly thoughts with us Cymbal mutes .
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August 8, 2014 at 1:55 pm
Thank you….came in as spam, but I know these guys.
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