Ah, simplicity! When I was a child my mother would occasionally serve rice balls in which a single tart umeboshi rested at the center. These have long been a favorite, but I admit that umeboshi might be an acquired taste. Commonly called “pickled plums,” ume aren’t really plums but are more closely related to apricots. Whatever they are, I cherish them.
I am thrilled that Silver Birch Press is featuring another of my poems in their Self-Portrait Series:
I think this calls for a small snack…
“Ashes” appeared in Extract(s) in March of 2013, months before I ever considered blogging. It marked my return to publication, after a decade’s absence:
http://dailydoseoflit.com/2013/03/12/poem-robert-okaji-2/
The poem is also available in the print anthology, Extract(s) Volume 2:
http://www.easternpointlithouse.com/#!extracts-daily-dose-of-lit/c19nk
Yet another adaptation.
Traveling (after Tu Fu)
I remember this temple,
this bridge, as I cross again
the patient river and mountain
selfless flowers and willows
brilliant even in the light mist
the late sun drifting in the sand
where every traveler’s sorrow fades
I’ll stay here again
The transliteration on Chinese-poems.com reads:
Traveling Again – Tu Fu
Temple remember once travel place
Bridge remember again cross time
River mountain like waiting
Flower willow become selfless
Country vivid mist shine thin
Sand soft sun colour late
Traveller sorrow all become decrease
Stay here again what this
My poem “Self-Portrait with W” is featured today in the Silver Birch Press Self-Poetry Series:
Jingting Shan Hill (after Li Po)
Distant birds flying high
the lonely cloud and I drift
watching each other without end
until only the hill remains.
As always, I question my choices. Chinese-Poems.com offered this transliteration of Li Po’s timeless poem:
Crowd birds high fly utmost
Lonely cloud alone go idle
Mutual watch both not tire
Only be Jingting Shan
How to capture the concept of idleness and the meditative quality of the last line (not to mention the piece as a whole)? Ah, decisions, decisions…
Confession: The last line confounded me, so I set the poem aside for a couple of months. Just yesterday I pulled it out and immediately knew what to do. The power of patience…
Four Ties Lit Review has posted my recording of “Rainforest Bridge.”
http://fourtieslitreview.com/2014/08/06/poet-robert-okaji-reads-rainforest/
The published version differs just a tad from my original. I don’t believe the difference affects the poem greatly, but if you’re interested in form and how it may help to shape a reading, here’s a pdf with the intended formatting:
Huazi Ridge
Limitless birds merging
with the autumn-colored hills
all along Huazi Ridge
this sadness, too, without end
Another adaptation. I hope that I’ve not strayed too far from the original’s tone.
The transliteration on Chinese-Poems.com offers:
Fly bird go no limit
Join mountain again autumn colour
Up down Huazi Ridge
Melancholy feeling what extreme
I’ve a poem in Four Ties Lit Review:
http://fourtieslitreview.com/home/issue-3-volume-1-summer-2014/poetry/robert-okaji/
O at the Edges 