Even the leaves

EVEN THE LEAVES

Even the leaves believe their trip to the ground will be very long. After the rain, I gave a nickname to the rainbow and when the sky clears, I notice the drops on the window erase your name. Here the mist of my breath: on the mountain, the fog. The whole sun, that painter of landscape, erased in the night. Yet under this purple moon, I am not the only guest.

—Translation: Lee Gould

The first haiku (vv. 1-3) was published in 2005; in 2008 I added two more verses (vv. 4-5) to round off a tanka. The other stanzas are intended to emulate the multi-authored effect of the renga, establishing thematic parallels; they were written on November 18-19, 2021 - although I completely rewrote the last two verses on April 21, 2022. In the arc of more than three lustrums: transformation of the poem, transformation of the self.