winter fields fallow
plough asleep now
snow-capped mountain
the moon in all its whiteness
its presence deeply felt

glass of burgundy
I rekindle the fire
with last summer's cornstalks
brittle feelings of winter night
the cat's soft striped fur

frost covers the land
sun warms candelabra vines freshly clipped
black feathers found and gathered
a scarf of withered snow around the woodpile
lively squirrel with a cache of acorns

in the east the sky is amethyst
it is the color of winter ending
chitter of juncos in the arbor vitae
silken almond petals touched by
morning frost and spring mist

the land stretches along the valley
a leopard stirring from its winter sleep
wild red tulips burst into bloom
the voice of one cricket
I reach out and touch the horizon

still scent of winter
in brown leaves
mourning cloak butterfly
olive leaves shimmer in the wind
this fragile watery human form

without a sound
the delicate wild iris bloom
wither and fall to earth
it sparkles through the mist
I rejoice in the morning star

a green-winged teal
flying over the Great Meadows
searching for its mate
on the first day of spring
I will start to sing again

with the pine whistling in the mistral
and a hundred birds
in its vast branches
butterfly kite plummeting
a sudden wind lifts it

swoosh goes the wind
it brings a fan-shaped
leaf to my door

it moved all the same
grass with the fox hidden in it

silver owl stirrings
carefully I place each foot
along the indigo night path
with the new moon
the constellation Leo clearly seen

not even the long withes
of willow can rein it in -
the river of Spring
the River of Heaven
Ama-no-gawa*

*Japanese term for the Milky Way