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The history of tea
nothing more than
a study of relations
between host and guest:
Sen-no-Rikyu expected a visit
from Daimyo Hideyoshi.
The evening preceding his arrival
a light snow fall.
The master lay cushions
on each stepping stone,
and upon the taiko's arrival
the garden covered
in a mantle of snow,
a path of stones standing out
to welcome him.
Frost on branches,
your arrival
in the garden.
Tracking the movement of seasons -
the placement of the hearth in winter
to offer you consolation from the cold.
Arranged in an earthen vase:
A branch of yellowed leaves,
a foxtail.
Water boiling
murmur of wind
through pine trees.
The knot on the whisk
pointing upwards.
A deviation from ceremony
a suggestion of desire
I could not articulate.
A scrap of paper
streaked with green
hidden in a sleeve
found hours after meeting.
Words fall from an envelope.
Melted wax
coating the interior
of a stone lantern.
Folding into an
overnight bloom,
the lovers.
Shin Yu Pai
Shin Yu Pai's first book of poems, "Equivalence", (La Alameda, 2003) is a winner of a 2003 grant from the Cambridge Arts Council and Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. "Works on Paper" is forthcoming from Convivio Bookworks this Fall. A chapbook of translations from the Chinese, "Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers" was published by Third Ear Books in 1998. Her one-act play Concave is the Opposite of Convex was given a staged reading at NY's Theater 22 and the Park Theater in Union City, NJ, by The Hudson Exploited Theater Company's Where Theater Starts Reading Series in 2001. Ms. Pai is also a fine arts photographer and her portfolio of visual work can be accessed at www.zonezero.com.
Photograph Title: Chozubachi, 1999
Copyright by Shin Yu Pai
Photograph Copyright by Shin Yu Pai
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