Paula Bohince – III
Owl
The owl all softness,
exhaustion, high on the dead
tree, leafless limbs
stupefied, amputated of use,
save for this seat.
Sated, made harmless,
the owl will not kill,
though it peers excitedly
at ivy, little bloody foot-
prints of ivy
that so resemble a trail of
hurt, dragging through snow
a life’s last moments.
–after “Owl” by Watanabe Shiko, 1683-1755, Japan
The owl all softness,
exhaustion, high on the dead
tree, leafless limbs
stupefied, amputated of use,
save for this seat.
Sated, made harmless,
the owl will not kill,
though it peers excitedly
at ivy, little bloody foot-
prints of ivy
that so resemble a trail of
hurt, dragging through snow
a life’s last moments.
–after “Owl” by Watanabe Shiko, 1683-1755, Japan
