Yoko Danno

BRIEF MEETING

      1

      Sunlight streaming in through
      the checkered grille above the landing
      of the spiral staircase ─ a breeze
      carries the language of birds
        
         Where is it from?
         How long will it last?

                  *

      Reflection of water flickers
      on the ceiling of the music hall
      coming in through the glass wall
      fronting a pond in the landscape 
                              garden

         in tune with the scherzo 
         played by a fretful wind

                  *

      Beyond the circular window is a bright  
      red full moon ─ light filtering in through 
      the thin paper of my bed room window
      as if illuminating the gloom with a smile

                  *


      2

      The day breaks
            beyond the mountains,
                        trees vibrate,
                  the first beat of a drum 
                                    resounds!

               *

      Dancers in colorful folk costumes
         swirl counterclockwise
      extending their arms to heavens

      The star festival lasts for seven days 
         celebrating the brief meeting 
      of the falling Eagle with the flying Eagle

                  *

      Flowering heads of wild grass 
         rock ‘n’ roll, scattering 
      pollens on receptive female organs
         fireflies sending signals


      3

      Fantastic to see below my eyes
            a magnificent view  
                  of the orange-roofed city

      While going down gradually
                  the spiral stone stairs
                              I’m in love 

                  *

      Blades of grass in the blaze 
                  of the setting sun bristle

      Lightning flashes as if warning 
                  against the rumbling of earth

                  *

      Colloidal transformation 
            takes place ─ gold salts 
                  transform the molten glass 
                              into cranberry pink 
                  ─ the internal light
                              crystallized

                  *



      SIGNS OF PARTING

      1

      Reluctant to say goodbye
         at the usual cafe around the corner 
      I take a detour, distracted  
         to mosquitoes, untimely humming 

                  *

      Have you seen a kingfisher today?

         I am in the shed to face me:
         he is flying home to find him
  
      I’ve been looking for it all afternoon

                  *

      If not yet, a good time to sell all
            of your elephants and whales 
                  and ask for a clear night

                  *


      2

      See you soon again, he says, without
      knowing a huge blue bull to emerge 
      out of the quiet sea ─ a cycle of tidal 
      waves caused by a submarine landslide

                  *

      Who knows if I tumble right 
                              or left
            spin upward or downward 

                        once I slip into space?

             *

      Smiling, she says, 
            life goes on without me 
                              or you
                                    or memories

                  *


      3

      The party’s over, my friends ─

                  See you soon again 
                              while moving 
                                    backward
            or forward 

                  or under a walnut tree

                  *

      Receding
            into the thickening mist
                  a pair of pine trees fade  
                              into black ink 

                  *

      My irregular pulse beats as usual
                  a temple bell ringing out
                              old days at year’s end 

                  *

Yoko Danno is Japanese and writes poetry solely in English. Her poems have appeared in various international poetry journals and anthologies. Her recent poetry books are Aquamarine (Glass Lyre Press, 2014), Woman in a Blue Robe (Isobar Press, 2016) and Further Center (Ikuta Press, 2017). The second edition of her translation, Songs and Stories of the Kojiki, a collection of creation myths, songs and historical narratives compiled in eighth-century Japan, was published by Red Moon Press in 2014. She lives in Kobe, Japan.
 
 
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