Poetry One ~ Japan Life

Poetry One

T S Brock

We had been living in Tokyo, but we ventured to other countries 2 or 3 times a year… Money was good… In Japan, near Tokyo, every chance that chance gave us… Well… We often wandered around the country sides of Japan, places not far from our home, but far enough to experience the deeper culture. So I asked my wife to take this photo of an abandoned Toyota… There were fireflies at night and elusive mosquitoes… But the wonder, the natural wonder was the symphony of cicadas making magical sounds all around us, hypnotizing our minds into sleep…

Poem 1 Cicadas

Sounds of summer

no one complains

don’t ask why

their rhythms

bother only

the most sensitive minds

They relieve our heat

and related pains

while their quiet

roaring bells

set us to relax

as decibels

slip deeply

like tranquil streams

into our ancient memory

1000 species across the world

living in the earth

as I’m told

emerging in luster

teen-aged and flustered

What brilliant energy

do they possess?

Their mystique has been

worshipped, feared

cooked and eaten

studied and collected

filed and defeated

On my balcony

my ears are captured

exquisite sounds

and rhythms

never before heard

These are the sounds

of the cicada in mass

presenting their

symphonies

in harmonious unison

How many million changes

Does it take to make

such a miraculous evolution

And now, my wife calls me

And now, I will fall asleep

to the sounds of the Cicada

And I will dream

Poem 2 Communication

(walking from above)

I watched a stream

and became aware

of how music began

water flows across stones

beyond streams

waves meet sand

rain sounds on every object

rain meets our bodies

passes through our minds

and makes a home in our hearts

beating and pulse

the rhythm of life

birds and other animals

making orchestral sounds

across the expanse of planet

creating melodies

calling to each other

for one reason or another

preserving their space

In their competitive place

beasts across forests

jungle and plain

signaled intention

from pleasure and pain

sounds that remain

in our history

no mystery

the musical tones of life

human community

watching carefully

spirited language

borrowing thoughtlessly

In clumsy gestures and expressions

from those animals

both friend and foe

countless ages

of development

evolved our tongues and ears

for speech

when we were finally able

to take care of each other

and accomplish

the miracle of

Communication

Poem 3 Winter Skating

Preface ~

“All the mischief of young people
trying to be in love
While parents hollered
for their children to come home
them slogging with skates
frozen to their love-lorn feet 

miracles of endurance”

Story ~

They made their way

slow and desperate

to the ramshackle cabin

at the corner of the ice field

to retrieve their worn-down and

half-frozen shoes

laughing in pain

amid the smoke of

a warm smoldering fire

burning in an antique barrel

stove squat center in the

shack among walls laden

with poetry, graffiti

proposals of love and hate

phone numbers and obscenities

when the old stove finally

lost its heat

the pond became

an oasis of moonlit

silence

dreams descended

then we embraced

and the universe folded

into our heaven-like bodies

https://www.lang-works.com/0-Pompei-07/index.html

Poem 4 Angels

Even Einstein
would agree
semantics aside
spirits could glide
from sea to sea

Of course
winged benefactors
aren’t probable
which is a difference
of mystery

Seems there’s
something looking down
giving us a frown
then waving a wand

trying to cast
a magic dream
like an office
of the lost and found
that has always
been empty

It could be
a four-leaf
clover
that no one’s
looking over

the Universe
is too wide
for me to decide

religions to me
evolved in the sea
and are corrupted
As they emerge

On the shores
of restless minds
and the lesser
of humankind
despite that…
the angel in my mind
comes and goes
endlessly upon

ideas and empathy

Poem 5 Voices

Voices falling from stars
and Venus and Mars
floating like snowflakes
and landing on warm lakes

The gentle fall breeze
brings the tones
to grace

solitude
or shared
the tones move
in our minds
and make our daily work
the music of heaven

End of Poetry Group One