MY FRIEND IN JAPAN
tanka from Zen Mercies/Small Satories

a letter arrives

through scribble waves

I glimpse

his old trout's shadow

on the move

 

with spring 

upheavals of wind and rain

a book from him 

not even breathing 

I untie the string

 

precious 

those off-hand words 

of praise

your tanka poems - 

quite Japanese...

 

always planned 

to learn Japanese

but night

is stealing quickly

in across the hills

 

an event 

in my life was that

poem he sent

smelling faintly

of his cigarette

 

in the rain tonight 

it's Mokichi's

red lights 

that bleed on wet pavement 

his sirens wail...

 

at last

it has come

damp with rain 

the postmark smudged

a letter from Japan

 

with the last five

of our winter tanka string

an emptying

Zen high

in early spring

 

springtime 

  is leaving 

     magnolia 

        petal prints 

            across the lawn...

© Marianne Bluger