Messy
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
The snow has melted
On just one metal shoulder
Of the Great Buddha.
~ Shiki
Not ours the purposes of nature. Not
God’s either, not so far as we can tell.
Snow melts clumsily and leaves a snowless blot
Here on the straw thatched roof—and where some fell,
It ruins purity below. A patch
Of brown or browny summer green appears
Surrounded by perfection’s white. No match
Is aimed for. Nature mumbles out its sneers
About esthetics of our old maid minds.
The snow falls thick upon the Buddha’s bronze
And seems a sacred thing but then rewinds.
A godless day of melting sunshine dawns.
..That frozen shoulder in agnostic heat
….Shows our philosophies are far too neat.