Tag: nature

“Kintsugi”

On By Mike U.In Poetry28 Comments

“Kintsugi”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

In the winter hour
Of my broken soul
This fragile vase cannot contain
My essence

It sits cracked
On the cornerstone of my hut
Catching melting snow
From which my heart drinks

My soul, old and plain
Cannot match the pace
Of setting sun or rising moon
Or brisk stream

Nor can it
Rival beautiful sakura
Kiku or fuji
But it is my soul

Born in raku fire
Tested by the flames
Etched and pitted by the glaze of
Toil and tears

Loneliness
Has found me at last as long years
Pass by on the trail
Up the mountainside

Misty mysteries
Hidden from my eyes
As I watch my sorrowful tears
Melt the snow

I have lost
Many pieces of myself through
Seasons of regret
Too many winters

How can I replace
All that has perished
All my soul has cannibalized
In my pain

Who can find
A way to patch this vase that leaks
My life on the ground
Draining my essence

Who will knead the clay
Who will brave the snow
To gather golden suisen
Seal the cracks

Kintsugi
Make my mournful soul whole again
Gild my wounds and heal
Me with tender care

Fill my soul with hope
Set me on the path
Up the mountainside so I may
Find my way
Again

“A Few Haiku (18)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry15 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#103)

Bones of the earth split
Emaciated world’s skin
Granite ribs protrude

…..

(#104)

Holes in waraji
Worn through soles through countless years
My soul worse for wear

…..

(#105)

Deafened ears can hear
Whispered symphonies of earth
Deafened hearts ignore

…..

(#106)

Mysteries begin
In the misty distance where
My horizon ends

…..

(#107)

Pieces of my heart
Bread crumbs marking mournful trails
Leading to the past

…..

(#108)

Part the blades of grass
Peer into the infinite
Listen with your heart

“A Few Haiku (17)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry32 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#97)

I have burned my hands
In the furnace of the past
Stoking memories

…..

(#98)

Stars write arias
For the bashful moon to sing
But who will listen

…..

(#99)

I have made my peace
Sitting under willow trees
In the green shadows

…..

(#100)

Does the floating leaf
Fear whitewater’s treachery
It has no regrets

…..

(#101)

Rest my ear aground
Listen to the planet’s heart
Know my place on earth

…..

(#102)

In the hushed forest
Eternity speaks to me
In jade whisperings

“Shinrin-yoku”

On By Mike U.In Poetry23 Comments

“Shinrin-yoku”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

I have bathed in forest’s em’rald essence
I have nestled, secreted away, in
Jade konara copse
I have placed my palms
Soft upon the scabrous skin of giants
Whose slowly beating hearts have shattered stone
Whose deeply delving fingers grip the earth
In lover’s embrace
Eternity is far too brief a time
For such a love as this, for such a love
Trees have for the earth
I have for the trees

Gazing skyward at my green universe
Amid kisses from ubiquitous night
Which fall like star-flakes
Through the canopy
I sense the unheard language of the trees
A faint susurrus welcoming me home
A shush of contemplation on the breeze
Voices of the trees
Quietude enfolds me as, eyes closed, I
Breathe the conversation of konara
Listen with my heart
To all that matters

The living scent of moss and loam, absorbed
Through every pore, a heady, arcane brew
Inebriating
Lulling, as the moon
Lets down her hair and deigns to coyly peek
Through silver-gilded burled boughs and leaves
And shyly paints moon-dapples on the ground
And the trees, amused
Approve with bowing branch and shaking leaf
As midnight sighs and winds begin to waft
Shadows blanket me
As I drift to sleep

And in my dreams I see konara copse
As though I were a bird in winging flight
Illumined by the
Golden summer sun
A living, breathing testament to life
A vibrant beating heart in tune with earth
A mother who gives birth to all that lives
Oh, mamori tai
I will protect you, my konara copse
For you have given me the gift of life
And I owe you a
Debt I must repay

“A Few Haiku (16)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry12 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#91)

How can hope survive
Solitary kitchen chair
And the empty bed

…..

(#92)

These old feet are numb
Memories are bitter cold
I must watch my step

…..

(#93)

I sought from the fox
Wisdom; he gave me instead
A flash of his tail

…..

(#94)

Breeze in bamboo grove
Sake choko clattering
Empty memories

…..

(#95)

Who has spilled the sky
Into the pond? Sunset fire
Burns lotus blossoms

…..

(#96)

Once, in the forest
Autumn taught me of sorrow
What will winter bring

“A Tanka Trio (9)

On By Mike U.In Poetry8 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#25)

Old stones squander heat
In the fire pit at night
After flames have died
Wrapped in fading embers’ arms
Love succumbs to apathy

…..

(#26)

I pick up the eggs
Fallen from a sparrow’s nest
Observing the cracks
There is silence as the earth
Contemplates what might have been

…..

(#27)

In the summer lea
Fluted vessels spill their mead
Amid buzzing drones
Yellowjackets drink their fill
Humming raucous tavern tunes

“I Cannot Ask the Mountain…”

On By Mike U.In Poetry13 Comments

“I Cannot Ask the Mountain…”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

I cannot ask the mountain
To carry my burden
For it shoulders the
The cumbrous glacier
The forsaken tor
The desolate scree slope
It weeps already
At its heavy load
Remorseful streams
Of alpine tears
Flow into tarns of regret
Secret cirques of sorrow
Hidden in its granite heart

I cannot ask the forest
To assuage my fears
For it attends to
The capricious breeze
Gathers thoughtless birds
To empty nests
Shepherds hind and hart
To twilight copses
Shelters hares among
Sword fern shadows
Its vigilant whisper
An exhausted sigh
I must let it sleep

I cannot ask the meadow
To save my soul
For it is laid to rest
Its cacophony
Of summer essence
Drained of hue and humor
Unkempt autumnal whiskers
Of dried grasses and weeds
All that remain on its
Forgotten countenance
It has no voice left
To perform last rites
For a dying world
No solemn hymns
Drift from dusty lea
To offer salvation

I cannot ask the sky
To forgive my sins
For it cares not
The callous sun
The fickle moon
The incurious stars
Time itself
Oblivious to all
They are occupied
With eternity
Not the pedestrian pain
Of one lost soul
Standing on the edge
Of a clearing
On a random
Autumn evening
Watching the universe
Spin silently overhead
Through burning tears

“Hana no Niwa (Garden of Flowers)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry10 Comments

“Hana no Niwa (Garden of Flowers)”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

In the restless nights
In the small flower garden
Spider lilies weep
Mournful beneath midnight moon
Dreaming higanbana dreams

They cry in silence
Do they know for whom they grieve
Do they remember
It was you who planted them
It was you who gave them life

They are not alone
In the soil of memories
In their moonlit tears
In my hana no niwa
In my place of remembrance

Magenta sweet peas
Bow their heads and bid farewell
To the one whose hands
Long-fingered and delicate
Caressed suitopi blooms

When the frost has come
Ivory chrysanthemums
Lay to rest your name
In autumnal kiku tombs
In dark chambers of my heart

In the pallid glow
Of tsuki and winter stars
Camellias die
Shed their crimson petals in
Snowy tsubaki lament

In the spring voices
Of sakura sing of you
Cherry blossoms mark
Your fleeting days in the sun
When skies were forever blue

In opposing climes
Doleful daffodils remain
Solemn sunflowers
Suisen, himawari
Pay respects with humble hearts

There’s a hidden place
In my hana no niwa
In my broken heart
Where my love for you still grows
Flowers bloom eternally

You are always there
Kneeling in the fertile loam
Under summer sun
Tending our flower garden
Where skies are forever blue

“A Few Haiku (15)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry10 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#85)

Fruit rots on the ground
In unattended orchard
Our love slowly dies

…..

(#86)

I plant hopes and dreams
In the fertile soil but I
Still must pray for rain

…..

(#87)

Sly kitsune slinks
Among magenta kiku
Shrewd white-tip-tailed imp

…..

(#88)

Thirsty tamarisk
In its drunken reveling
Drains oasis dry

…..

(#89)

Let the bitter plum
Remind you to cherish the
Sweetness of the pear

…..

(#90)

Those old stars above
Whisper of antiquity
And enduring hope

“A Few Haiku (14)”

On By Mike U.In Poetry12 Comments

(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

(#79)

Under darkened skies
Of depression even my
Shadow flees from me

…..

(#80)

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

…..

(#81)

Myths of ancient days
Etched in runes on ruined wood
Worm trails on old trees

…..

(#82)

Those cicadas know
What lies ahead is better
Than what’s left behind

…..

(#83)

Desiccated husks
Of bad memories remain
Rattle restlessly

…..

(#84)

Memories of lilac
Wild rose and hollyhock
Melancholy prose