TENUGUI

1.

Other worlds beyond,
beneath the canopies
of the woods gone wild
to shed their leaves,

naked near the Solstice,
unending limbs entwined
unseen unless I move
outside my cluttered mind—

ignored and warmed
by the murmured songs
of smaller gods
I sense when I am gone.
 

2.

It is a mistake, you know,
to map your favorite fishing hole—
to let trout leap from photograph
to fire in the company
of hungry strangers. Best
leave your luck to the mystic
and the magic of cryptic poetry
felt before it’s understood.
 

3.

I imagine a narrow wild rag,
your gift of Raijin thunder
and lightening coming—
an angry Japanese print
I might wear anywhere
outside to get attention
from stormy weather,
for the bladder full of water
slung over his shoulders
we might all profit by.