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The Journey to the West

Though we journey to the West We pray to the East More or less that's the way Each day begins and ends It’s a tale everyone ...

Saturday, March 21, 2015

The Field Marshal of Spring

This time of year more
Than a millennium ago
The great Tang poets
Used to make their way
Around the willow parks
Surrounding the outskirts
Of Chang An in search
Of the earliest signs
Of spring

It became something
Of a game played by
The likes of Li Bai
And Du Fu to see
Who could lay claim
To prior sighting of a
Crocus breaking forth
From the ground or even more
Incredibly who might stumble
First on the sprout of
A wild asparagus spear

And it was precisely
Such a moment as this that  
My wife and I encountered
On our way home
This afternoon
As we rounded
The corner onto
Foster Crossing
And came across
This willow tree in our
Neighbor's front yard
That was lit up by the
Sun's retreating rays
As if from within
It glowed with pride
Having just signed up
For another leap of faith
This being the first day
Of Spring no less
With a rime of snow
Still dappling the lawn
And this willow was already
Engaged in vigorous display
Of the path forward




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