Mark Murphy – II

Caught by the Ejiri Wind* Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

Far from Mount Fuji,

tree and leaf will acquiesce

in the flooded fields

to the famed Ejiri wind.

So many will find

their hearts as they pass among

rice and azolla –

where egret and night heron

harvest the quiet carp,

and racoon dogs still bewitch

the village children

with their mischief in the dark.

So the heaven sent

deities will reach from beech

and from blackened pine

with the pledge of the divine

to all that would act

with care, toward the beggar,

poet and player,

who stray from home and harbour

to find their doubtful

gods, within the ill-fated

hymn, good luck to him

who suffers, without status,

or solemn prayer.

All the paths will lead, at last,

back to the well-worn

stair, think of us then among

the restless beggars

and the lame, who come to grieve

an impatient age

upon the complaining air.

Bless the men who lose

their heads in the sacred storm,

bless the girls who make

their beds in the face of bliss-

full oblivion,

and last and not in the least,

bless the infinite

abyss, in whose name we kiss

and fall, make our sombre trysts.

 

 

 

(*Upon taking a second look at Katsushika Hokusai’s painting)