soon you will pass the threshold of Cancer where you will enter as one who is watched by the all-seeing Eye spoken like the words of a false prophet— spirit free as the devil she watches the world burn on its final day
Read MoreThe Tarot Sun (a micropoetry series)
child riderfree to follow the light—a seeker of love’s embrace always seeking the sunwhile tied to the earth reader of the codesthat are interwovenin the fabricbetween then & nowbetween heaven & earth seeds that growin the life forcethat surrounds us allto rise above the earthonly …
Read MoreA Song Where I Belong
Inspired by Maxfield Parish’s “The Dinky Bird” On the clouds Of fruit-filled dreams I dream Of castles And fairy tales One ladder Each step— A movement in time Falling along a road Looking at the skyEach kiss a melody— The words, a broken cord Time protected In knotsAnd fortress walls …
Read MoreDrops from Keido Fukushima’s “Leaves”
wind and sea—the leaves we leavefor other generations little by little—the leaves line upto be lifted by the wind pure sky—awakened to soundof single leaf trees and skies—the generations growfrom leaf to leaf running in the wind—searching for “self”in the veins of time water and life—a drop in the moon’smidnight …
Read MoreA Moonlit Night
Naka no Ooe (aka, Emperor Tenji, 626-672 AD) Clouds spread like a flag Around the sea god, Aiming for the setting sun— I hope it clears For a moonlit night. Original Text Modern Text Pronunciation 中大兄 中大兄 Naka no Ooe 渡津海乃 海神の Watatsumi no 豊旗雲尓 …
Read MoreNakatsu Sumera Mikoto’s “Beneath the Young Pine”
My dear, This grass Will not do— Let us sleep beneath The young pine Original Text Modern Text Pronunciation 中皇命 中皇命 Nakatsu Sumera Mikoto 吾勢子波 我が背子は Waga Seko ha 借廬作良須 仮廬作らす Kariho tsukurasu 草無者 草なくは Kaya naku ha 小松下乃 小松が下の Komatsu ga shita no 草乎苅核 …
Read MoreNakatsu Sumera Mikoto’s “Tying the Roots”
Let’s tie the roots Together At Iwashiro Hill— Your life And my life too Original Text Modern Text Pronunciation 中皇命 中皇命 Nakatsu Sumera Mikoto 君之齒母 君が代も Kimi ga yo mo 吾代毛所知哉 我が代も知るや Waga yo mo shiru-ya 磐代乃 岩代の Iwashiro no 岡之草根乎 岡の草根を Oka no kusane …
Read MorePregnant moon
The pregnant moon Sleeps behind Its saffron veil; A dozen stars outshine Manhattan’s light.
Read MoreFamily Portrait
A mother Holds her daughter In a whirl: A man in twilight, His cover girls.
Read MoreAuthor unknown, “How deep was the dye of my longing” (Kokinshu #7)
Translation How deep was the dye Of my longing: A flower appeared, I went to pluck, And found just lingering snow. Commentary There was a note that said the former Chancellor, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, may have written the poem. The poem describes the narrator having …
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