An August Morning and the Shukkei-en Garden

An August Morning and the Shukkei-en Garden

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem 

A song that is a light beam which is both

Perfume and phosporescence brings a balm

To garden minds.  Above the undergrowth,

Though, high Enola Gay prepares her bomb

For turning silk kimonos into gas–

If even that.  The tea house walls became

Mere evanescence.  Temple stones and grass

Evaporated.  In the godless flame

The site of Shukkei-en,  its garden, went

Through sublimation into spirits, ghosts

And death.  White shojis made of rice were rent

From top to bottom by the Lord of Hosts.

  The classmates walking on their way to school

    Were snuffed out like the unsuspecting pool.

~ Phillip Whidden

by phillipw | Mar 3, 2025 | HI | 0 comments