“Koto no Yume”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

In dreamland forests of my soul I hear
What deafened ears in waking cannot know
A yearning in konara groves
That lilts in silent soft-edged shadows calls

The stream conversing with the hart has hushed
Its liquid-silver voice now mute
As herons ankle-deep in currents pause
And reverently bow in pious prayer

The insects cease their gossip in the ferns
And in anticipation preen their wings
As purple katakuri nod
At crimson higanbana through the leaves

And sly kitsune slinks from trunk to trunk
A flash of pale white-flickered tail
To find a seat ‘neath green-leafed momiji
Or ‘neath the needled kuromatsu boughs

And in my dream the forest holds its breath
Eternity descends upon the trees
And all who love and care for them
As gilded god-beams light the mossy stage

Then from the forest depths there comes a sound
That filters through the canopy
A song that renders deafened hearing moot
A song heard not with ears but with the heart

The stirring notes of strings plucked heavenly
By fingers blessed by goddesses above
A visionary eloquence
My koto no yume, my koto dream

Then, riding on the sunlit motes, appears
A glowing form adorned in hues
Of wild flowers, seas of green, sky blue
A maiden of unspeakable allure

This tennyo who deigns to entertain
Floats lithely in her hagoromo garb
Her feathered kimono as fair
And bright as golden taiyoko above

Her voice then whispers softly and with care
And all the world has ceased its spin
As ocean tides and fragrant winds stand still
To listen and to learn and understand

She sings of wondrous beauty as her voice
Begins to rise and fall among the trees
Her lyrics tell a tale of life
And loss and sorrow and redemptive hope

And as her words fall gently to the ground
She spreads her arms and looks at me
Her voice a solemn tone as koto fades
And tears the tinct of summer rainstorms fall

“These woods,” she says, “and all that live herein
And all the earth and sea and sky above
Are gifts to you and in your care
But paradise is fleeting, sunset looms…”

And in my dream I watch the forest fade
As oceans rise and skies turn dark
And animals lie choking on the fumes
Of human hubris, and the figure says,

“The choice is yours, but tarry not…farewell…”
And she is gone and I awake to find
Myself alone in midnight thoughts
And listen for the strains of koto strings

But all I hear is silence in the night
And all I see as I peer through
My open window is the waning moon
As it paints with a sterling brush the trees

Of distant woods and stream and meadowland
And since my ears are deaf, I use my heart
I close my eyes and breathe in deep
To reconnect with nature once again

Then faintly as a forest sigh I hear
The somber song of koto strings
And opening my eyes I see the streak
Of sleek kitsune tail cross the lea

And hart emerging from the sleeping woods
And herons winging slowly past the moon
And in my heart the choice is clear
My koto no yume, my koto dream