On Learning Of A Friend In Hospice

 

We should cut the sunlit branches of blossoms

   Li Ch'ing-chao, "When The Plums By The

                             Back Pavilion Bloomed"

 

 

 

The dying dogwood tree hasn't flowered

Since early spring, and now, late autumn,

After a week of cold rain, all day the sun

Stays in its stark branches, and I break

A twig, take it in to a pale green celadon

Vase, set it on the full-moon window sill,

And all night it is filled with blossoms.

 





Poetry by countryfog
Read 1965 times
Written on 2015-11-06 at 14:23

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Thank you so much for this poem.
2019-06-19


Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
Great stuff. Quite ceremonious and meaningful.
2015-11-10


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
This touching, Fog. You've picked, and employed, a perfect metaphor, perfectly.
2015-11-07



Very moving, very beautiful :-) :>)
2015-11-06


one trick pony The PoetBay support member heart!
your ability to put it into to words something so difficult, so simply, is inspirational to me as a (so-called) writer. somehow the word "celadon" makes the poem perfect.
2015-11-06


shells
I found this poem of beauty deeply moving in it's simplicity and meaning.
2015-11-06


Bob
I love this
2015-11-06



I assume from the title that this poem is a poem of grief and an expression of respect and homage to your friend. What better way to do this than by creating something beautiful, something simple and natural like a Zen flower arrangement--or in this case, a single dogwood branch in a vase. It is rituals like this that give meaning, form, and expression to emotions beyond mere words.
2015-11-06