“Lady Nyo Forgives Her Husband”….and a continuation of National Haiku Month.

This is National Haiku Month: Write a haiku a day.

Fallen leaves crackle.
Sparrows add the treble notes.
Season’s musical.

–

Dogwoods are blooming
The crucifixion appears
White moths in the night.

–

I will not shed tears
Let the tall murasaki
wet my silken sleeves.

–

Outside the window
there is a world of chaos
Inside, warm fire.

–

A swirl of blossoms
Caught in the water’s current
Begins the season.

–

The north wind blows hard
Chills both man and animal
Life is not certain.

–

Haiku (classical form) is done as 5-7-5. There are many who creatively write ‘outside the box’. I still count on my fingers, and squeeze the ‘haiku’ into the box.

The poems (Lady Nyo Forgives Her Husband) were written a few years ago in answer to “Bad Quarrel”. And extended version of both are in “A Seasoning of Lust”, published by Lulu.com, 2009, plus more stories of Lady Nyo. I am trying to fit them in the upcoming book “The Nightingale’s Song”. Right now I haven’t a clue what to do with them, but they should be in there. Perhaps I will just stick them in the middle of the book and leave it at that.

Lady Nyo (not the one of the poems but sometimes too close for comfort)
–

LADY NYO FORGIVES HER HUSBAND…

1.

Stop tickling me!
Yes, I forgive you,
but you take such liberties!
Your hands are not clean from
previous crimes.
Go wash them in the snow of
last year’s falling.
Then I will reconsider your request.

2.

Look! There is a cardinal,
red as blood and as cocky
as a lord.
See his mate?
She is dull, but has her lipstick
on this morning.

3.

Last night I thought of you
My face still bears the blushes.
You thought it was good health?
No, just reflects the liberty
of dreams.

4.

(My mind is still shattered
My heart still sore)
But I put on a fresh face
full of smiles and polite manner.
It would shock our friends if
they knew the turmoil of
my heart.

5.

You came with a mouthful of ‘sorry’
and leave now with other parts eased.
Never mind.
Your coming and going has served a dual purpose.

6.

The spring is so tender.
My heart blooms like the white plums.
Do you think our happiness will last
til apple time?

7.

Off you go,
and don’t look back.
If you turn, you will see serenity.
But behind this mask,
is a well of longing.

8.

Last night
I tied my kimono tightly,
bound it with a red silk rope
like an impassioned lover’s hands
around a wasp waist,
and kneeling upon a cushion,
awaited the rising of the moon.

Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2013

“A Fortunate Fate”, from: “A Seasoning of Lust”…..

A Courtesan’s fleeting life of beauty.

A FORTUNATE FATE

Hana Takate was eighteen years old, a courtesan in old Edo. When she appeared in public, men’s eyes turned like sunflowers to the light of her sun.

Lovely Hana had bones like melted butter and skin shaped from rice powder. She was a creature so luminous a flower of purest jade could not compare. When she rose from a nap, wearing a simple gauze robe, free of makeup and perfumes, she floated like a spider’s web. A vision of culture and desire, her laugh a tinkling bell, her hair of bo silk, her movements like cool water.

During cherry blossom time she was entertaining, her robes folded open like gossamer wings, her rouged nipples suckled by another. A young daimyo was admitted to her rooms by mistake. This new lover was so angered he cut off the head of his rival with his long sword in one swift blow.

Hana knelt before him, head down, exposing her swan neck, awaiting death. Seeing her trembling fragility, her obedient meekness, he could not take her life and disappeared to write bad verse.

She became known as “The Immortal Flower”, a courtesan of first rank. She prospered and became fat.

Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2008, 2012
From: “A Seasoning of Lust”, Lulu.com, 2009