“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon” published at LatinosUSA

On By Mike U.In Poetry

Hi, everyone. I’m pleased to announce my poem “From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon” has been published at LatinosUSA. A sincere thanks to editor Michelle Navajas, who always goes above and beyond, for choosing to share this poem with her readers. It’s truly an honor, and I’m grateful for you kindness, Michelle.

“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon”
© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

I have waited long enough
among midnight forests
and somnolent bamboo groves
the furtive whispers
of pensive yurei
a forlorn supplication
to dissolve further
into the rayless world
of lost souls
to seek the sleep
of bōkyaku

cloistered among
susurrating reeds
I bathe my feet
in Sanzu’s nocturnal tears
adorned in fragrant
willow shadows
as koi drowse
in the depths of dreams
and kitsune slink
clandestinely
their night-thoughts
unfathomable…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon”© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

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19 thoughts on ““From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon” published at LatinosUSA”

  3. A transcendent piece written in such a way that one needs to dig deep to understand what is being said here. I had to do a bit of research in order to know what some of the words meant and I am glad I did.

    The beginning paragraph speaks to me about a soul lost and also surrounded by those that have passed but can not move on due to something traumatic.

    I love this entire stanza:

    «cloistered among
    susurrating reeds
    I bathe my feet
    in Sanzu’s nocturnal tears
    adorned in fragrant
    willow shadows
    as koi drowse
    in the depths of dreams
    and kitsune slink
    clandestinely
    their night-thoughts
    unfathomable»

    One gets the sense of deep sorrow as the «kitsune» slink – a creature that can morph into anything a creature one probably does not want to meet. The trauma and hardship that his individual has lived and carries the scars of Sanzu. The mystical feel, the entirety of this piece and your descriptive phrases that you use throughout this piece create such a profound visual.

    The words you use to describe the life you have led are extremely mournful. The use of the word «bones.»

    You carry this theme throughout this poem with such brilliance one wants to study the meaning along with delve more into these characters. I also truly found a unique beauty to the way you review to the moon, even though that to is sorrowful. It works so fantastically.

    What an amazing write, my dear friend. I am so glad to read this and I thank you for teaching me some new words.

    Mich, thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous work and ditto on Mich’s amazing and heartfelt support of her writers.

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    1. Thanks so much, Joni. I enjoyed writing this one. I love Japanese culture, art and mythology, and while I wasn’t sure where this one was headed when I began (I really never know–I simply start writing and let it take me where it may), it seemed to flow really well. It’s very dark, of course (like most of my poetry) and deals with heavy themes. I had Western mythological ideas in mind and sought to find Japanese mythological analogues to match the Japanese setting, so a little research was necessary and incredibly interesting, too. And after writing it, I realized there was an entire subtext to the piece I wasn’t aware of while writing it. It’s a spiritual journey theme, one of abandonment and denial, the seeking of acknowledgement and validation that never comes, and the final realization that what we once believed was perhaps never real at all. The character’s resignation at the end is her way of accepting her fate and being able to move on to oblivion. It’s terribly sad, and all too commonplace in the real world.

      I appreciate your deep-dives into my poetry, Joni. I love seeing how others react to my words and worlds, and oftentimes these reviews show me aspects of my poetry I never realized before.

      Here’s wishing you and Scott a good rest of the week. 😊

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    1. Thanks, Beth. I was in one of my brooding moods the night this one came to me, but I’m really fond of it. I actually love the moon, but I have a haiku on my blog where I took a different look at the moon and it helped inspire this piece:

      (#80)

      Light devoid of warmth
      Casts the moon as villainous
      Skulking through the trees

      I guess it’s all about perspective, eh? 😊🌙

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