by James Woodham
flat out on the grass
coming down as deep as dreams –
the seeds of freedom
the lake concealing
a million lives, another world
so the mind dreams
afternoon so slow
it feels like the sun has stopped
clouds just hanging
orb of the moon hung
in a sky of palest blue
pink tinge on the hills
ducks glide serene
on the smooth expanse of grey
horizon lost to sky
the lake’s eternal eye
the mountains’ clouded presence
of the centuries
screech from the bushes
a pheasant’s hoarse vocals –
clearing rusty pipes
cormorants flapping
at the clank of construction shovels
the pond shivers
ducks in a flurry
as if running on water
flapping off phantoms
striding past puddles
crows converse across the rain
the playground empty
reeds as still as time
the sun a pale reflection
a fisherman casts
contented stillness
legs as thin as the falling rain
grey heron standing
sharing the garden
with bulbuls*, spiders, wasps, ants
ownership a myth
towering into blue
graceful sway of bamboo
partnering the wind
the way the wind
in waves of light travels through
the spider’s web
wind in the web
rippling a ladder of light –
fragile vanishing
butterfly alights
on my skin for an instant –
weightless transmission
shadows of leaves
move in the wind on the wall –
the language of air
the wind a knife blade
points of silver pierce the sky
the heart song frozen
sudden swoop and cry
hiyodori* chasing spring
in an arc of joy
all the air alive
a breeze, a bird alights
the May leaves quiver
priest sweeps the shrine
in a cliff where water falls
in a line of white
struck by the monk’s rod
from the brass bowl sound quivers
shimmering the air
meditation’s cave –
the dark that sets these ships afloat
flames on the water
Note
*hiyodori (Jap.): brown-eared bulbul, a large greyish songbird, given to exuberant swooping and high-pitched chirping that is said to sound like “hi hi heeyo heeyo”. Hence the Japanese name “hiyodori”, or hiyo bird.
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For previous contributions by James Woodham, please see his striking combination of poems and photography here. Or here. Or here. Or here. Or here. Or here.
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