Posts Tagged ‘The Bamboo Gong’
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December 17th, 2009 Posted 7:57 pm
Gong
THE BAMBOO GONG
In the courtyardThe bamboo struck the railing on the roof. Its gong was a summons to the son Who would say, “Papa-Sir, it is time! It is our time of day!” Then the son would sparkle through the doorway Revealing miracles in the smallest crannies of the court, Unseen until his illumination Magicked them out of the shadows. What some mistook for mushroom caps They knew were chimney pots of gnomes. What seemed a passing butterfly Was the Mother-spirit hovering by. They saw the never-seen-before, And saw old things anew In the courtyard of the sounding bamboo. In the winter Slaverings of sleet crusted the metal rail Muffled the prophetic gong to a prophetic knell Dimmed the light of the small son Turned all the red rivers blue Freezing the father entirely. In the spring There was resurrection for the bamboo But not for the son And not for the father Who cursed the gong that called for the impossible That called for miracles That called up memories And sighed continually as thought it could see What he could not. In his grief Keen as the edge of his blade He razed the court Of all that conjured memories. Monsoons turned the rest to mud. The glare of the sun in the barren court Leached all meaning from its walls. There was no bamboo to call. There was no magic in the courtyard. There was no small son And nothing to remind him There had been a small son. Nothing at all ~ And Yet . . .
Tags: G, Gong, poetry, The Bamboo Gong
Posted in Poetry Dept.