Ikebana (You without You)
Between frames, between presence and negation, authority.
If your body lies in the earth, why are you here?
Limits admired and sought: the way of the flower.
I pluck leaves from the lower half to achieve balance.
Shape and line detach, yet comprise the whole.
My father, awake in his chair, mourns quietly.
A naked twig forms one point of the scalene triangle.
Starkness implies silence, resonates depth.
Heaven, earth, man, sun and moon invoke your absence.
As you trickle through the interval’s night.
* * *
Ikebana is the art of Japanese flower arrangement.
O at the Edges 
Robert, this is piece is just beautiful! What a talent.
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You are very kind, Victoria. Thank you.
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So much presence in a poem about absence. Gorgeous! 完璧!
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Presence in absence has affected me greatly since I was a child.
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Whatever you have been affected by, it has been sublimated into the sublime verse you casually fling at us every other day! We are all richer for having followed your site…
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Writing helps me understand these little realities. Or at least it provides more questions to explore.
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Beautiful and very moving poem!
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Thank you, Robin. Much appreciated.
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Really great poem! And the final image is so simple and humble, yet powerful! You have a great talent, I sincerely hope you keep on doing this nice job.
Best wishes,
Gonçalo from http://www.beautyinspace.com/
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Thank you, Gonçalo, for your generous comments.
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The combination of perfectly chosen words and the images they conjure make this piece so striking. Congratulations Robert
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Thanks very much, Damien.
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deeply and profoundly moving…simply a beautiful work of art.
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Thank you, Krys.
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is the father mourning because the flowers have been taken from their soil? i’m guessing so. it upsets me when i see people without a thought pluck a flower as if they have some claim to it. especially when it is just to give to a girlfriend who sniffs it once & tosses it.
i like where you went with the emotion in this poem, it is balanced like the act of arranging, coming in from different perspectives on the act.
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I prefer that readers find their own meanings in these poems. I may write from a certain perspective, but have found all too often that readers intuit something entirely different. And I love that! So the answer to your question is yes. No. Maybe.
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Nothing wrong with leading a reader to the precipice of ambivalence. Or should it be corridor of ambivalence?
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Perhaps it’s the portal of ambiguity. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Praying for Eyebrowz and commented:
Lovely piece by Robert Okaji. Read more at robertokaji.com.
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Thank you, Leslie!
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My pleasure!
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This poem is a meditation. For myself, I appreciate the contemplation it invites on loss, presence, starkness, beauty . . . so much to be discovered behind the words. Thank you.
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Thanks, Jan. The poems in this series were written as meditations, intensely personal yet perhaps almost clinical in tone and language. As always, I hope that readers are able to excavate something for themselves.
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I think you succeeded in your hope!
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Wow nice one
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Thanks very much.
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I like to think I know why I want to remain here; more yes than no; sometimes it’s a close call; for me, the side plots are gripping, sticky like the sap from the forest around. Thanks for this. The chair is a brilliant touch.
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Oh, that sap! And thanks for your kind comments, Bob.
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This could have been written about my parents’ living room in the days after my mother died. Thank you for giving me those moments of remembrance, beauty, and solitude.
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Thank you, as always, for your kind comments, Jilanne. I’m glad you found something of use in the poem.
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This was absolutely gorgeous. I found truth in many of your lines.
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Thank you very much.
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This is really beautiful!
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Thanks very much!!
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Wow wow wow! Its beautiful man! We would be glad if you send some of your stuff for our upcoming edition of Indian version of international Miracle Magazine.The Miracle Magazine, is an arts and literary magazine that caters to the part of the society that is dazzled by the brilliance of art. After carving a niche internationally, we decided to come back to our roots and launch an Indian edition for the magazine. With this magazine, we aim to cover a variety of sections, including Fiction and Non Fiction Writing, Poetry, Photography and Fine Arts. The magazine focuses on young people who have excelled in their fields, and also aims to encourage new talent. We’ve released our very first Winter issue this January! Now as we are planning to proceed and come up with the Spring edition we’re looking forward to better content and matter by fusing and putting together the thought of the nation’s youth. We would really appreciate if we get content including the following: submissions in art poetry fiction and non-fiction writing book or movie review, comics photography from your side.Incase of any inquiry you can contact us on the following: Email address:miraclemagazineindia@gmail.com Regards, Miracle Magazine: India The magazine is now available in an exclusive and accessible digital format. Here is the link: http://issuu.com/miraclemagazineindia/docs/miracle_magazine-issue_1 Furthermore details are available on our website. Website link:http://miraclemagazineind.wix.com/miracleindia. Cheers 🙂
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Thank you. You honor me. I will contact you via email.
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The power in the questuons.
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It certainly is in my opinion, Candice.
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I agree
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I am familiar with ikebana. I think of it as a very deliberate effort to arrange living flowers and leaves who show us our own impermanence. I love this poem!
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