Japan

a bell rings in an empty sky

it’s time for the new tea, the

first tea of the season

the bazaar at the temple

strangely absent of sellers

I remember the Mikosan’s*

dance…like seeing something

hundreds of years old, yet fresh….

…the 400 years old restaurant

with giant koy pond…the one

the shogun ate at, with the aromatic

herb found nowhere else.

…sitting in the sento,  bath house,

watching sumo on T.V., a ratty

looking yakusa, body tattooed,

missing a little finger….

…the food! Mongolian barbecue,

sukiyaki with Kobe beef, sitting

in the main room, fire in the middle,

cooking pot hanging from a hook

ornamented by a carved fish…Jack

putting items in the simmering broth,

pulling them out and eating them…

Fukushima, Nagasaki….

the bazaar at the temple

strangely absent of sellers.

 * Mikosan: an apprentice Gesha