Inside
By Amy Uyematsu
based on photographs from Rural Japan:
Radiance of the Ordinary
/ afloat
two boats with no riders
still moving on water
the hulls barely touching
each with a single oar
safely propped
so it won’t fall
/ lotus leaves
close into themselves
at night
on their wide folded backs
water beads
inside, their sleeping
flowers
/ inside
do the carp
just below the water’s stillness
see the pines
/ fall daikon
just pulled from the soil
these pungent roots
hang from bamboo poles
their white tubed bodies
bend as if slightly aroused
each ripe radish will
be drenched
in salt
then eaten raw
all winter
/ lone pine
ancient tree
with so many tongues
how long this throated stem
this stillness before rain
Copyright Credit: Amy Uyematsu, “Inside” from Stone Bow Prayer. Copyright © 2005 by Amy Uyematsu. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. www.coppercanyonpress.org
Source: Stone Bow Prayer (Copper Canyon Press, 2005)