I
Amongst the gridded sprawl of Man-a-hattan clarity, its fraysome edges fraught ‘gainst forest fringeland ‘n the shores of Biwa Lake, the shrines ‘n palaces lay – logos boxed – beneath my wand’ring touch; I pull the wards of Kyoto t’ward my screen.
Eddied pools of meaning…
These hieroglyphs in brushstrokes
bear their missives.
My shuffled-flashcard knowledge:
not enough.
The view of rain that leaps the cloud-wisp walls ‘n wings its way unto the earth – I spread my thumb ‘n finger for to raise katsurakawa to a focal point, its riv’ring life of coursing currents cleaves the city ‘fore it feeds Osaka Bay.
The printed page;
the photographic map,
by satellite –
Sea of Time ‘n Space a-bridged,
I wander Kyoto.
II
Eight-thousand miles east –
trace the youth of the aging sun
to the basin of the white mountains.
The City Of A Thousand Years…
Feed th’flames of dawn upon the westward wind.
III
Dropped into Japan by my own right hand, I stand beneath the gabled wonders, their calligraphic, wood-beam forms ‘midst raked, permuted sand.
In late-pandemic winter,
I plan the routes I’ll walk
in person.
Image credit – LLM
william altoft 