Snapshots of Japan
Village Life
Lush, lime rice fields blanket all available spaces,
bounded by tile roofs delicately curled, bullet train tracks,
vegetable patches dotted with bobbing wicker saucers
atop determined gardeners worshipping their food.
Gorge
Rivers swish furiously past stubborn rock islands,
fountains plunge into foamy life-giving ribbons,
forceful, daring to be tamed, transformed into
meals served by kneeling women wrapped like presents.
Scene in a window
Caring mother allows doll-faced daughter to gaze
bathed by moisture-rich bamboo breezes,
as obsidian locks are combed perfectly,
grooming the next feminine generation.
Gion Festival
Thousand year-old ritual, ten-ton wooden floats
propelled by the force of one hundred feet
creak along Kyoto streets past high-rise edifices
begging for relief from plagues.
Nara
Scurrying citizens reach stations, schools, shrines
passing sushi stands and internet cubicles,
while free-roaming sacred deer nod “kudasai”,
“please” feed me, cultivate gardens,
revere Buddha
Tokyo
Within a glittering ImperialPalace
Emperor Showa paces, only a daughter to succeed
Crucial problems persist so she must lead
Japanese will survive on precarious islands.
#gallery-41-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-41-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 100%; } #gallery-41-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-41-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
journeyswithjosie 