ASAHI VILLAGE

Bamboo stands
Some thick
Some thin
Pine trees
Brown-tipped green
Pomegranates
Pruned low and wide
Trimmings bundled,
Nothing to waste.
Snow melts.
Old gods watch silently
Their names engraved on
Standing grey/black stones
Adorned with images of
Cocks and other creatures.
The aged temple,
Weathered boards
Dull with time and winter,
Waits for human breath
To remember its gods
And breathe new life.

The old ways here,
Like most other places,
Are floating
Into the past.

Laurie Trott (2008)