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, 2o14
“Musings on a Closing Day” was included in “Pitcher of Moon”, Amazon.com 2014,
Tags: "Musings on a Closing Day", "Pitcher of Moon", Amazon.com, Jane Kohut-Bartels, poetry
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
May 13, 2016 at 10:03 pm
You write beautifully Jane. Thank you for sharing your poem. Enjoyed much.
Connie
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May 14, 2016 at 2:19 am
Thank you, Connie. This poem is a relatively early one….2010 I think. Everything is ‘early’ actually, since I’ve only been writing poetry (or anything else..) since 2006. So….it comes and goes, and there are spaces (like for the last year) where little poetry strikes the mind. Right now, it’s rather a desert. I just don’t know why, because poetry is such a short cut to the mind, situations. I’m hoping that it will return. William Stafford, one of my favorite poets, who died in 1993 I believe….wrote every day. Not every poem was good, but the practice put his mind in a ‘poetic’ place every day. Perhaps that is what poets need? To work at this stuff like a regular devotion? I don’t know, Connie, but I hope I find out. Any suggestions would be gratefully listened to.
Jane
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May 14, 2016 at 3:14 pm
I just take a mini mental vacation. A few days, just getting outside in nature, living, and experiencing all that I can. Think of this as ‘Refreshing the mind.’ Then and only then set time for reflection, using your most creative mind, in order to reimagine a new.
Don’t be to hard on yourself Jane. “Stuck” comes with having a creative mind, we all experience this.
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May 15, 2016 at 2:02 am
Yeah, we all do. This is the first time this has really happened and it’s a little unhinging. But it ‘s also that I have been working on two novels, and some short stories….so the poetry suffers because of these things. I live outdoors as much as I can, because with 8 cats, 4 dogs, chickens, …you don’t get to say in doors much. LOL! But I like your mini mental vacation idea, Connie. I find that looking outside at the clouds, to the east…gives a lot of inspiration….the peach and gold of the clouds at dusk, when the moon and sun are balancing the sky , that short time where there seems anything possible in that lavender sky!
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May 15, 2016 at 6:56 pm
You go girl…novels, short stories and poems, oh wow, one busy world you live in.
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May 15, 2016 at 8:40 pm
I won’t deny that. It’s busy. It’s also lonely because we mostly produce work in isolation….except painters! LOL! It sorta fosters anti-social behavior, too. Or at least we lose the ability to speak in person. I thought that was a product of age, but I now think it’s that we live in our heads. Except when we garden. Then we live with the worms. And they aren’t saying much.
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