Andrew Lansdown: Two Poems

Water for Worship

Osaka, Japan

At Hozen Temple

a stooped Japanese man is

working the handle

of a cast iron pump, which is

spouting water to

a plastic bucket in which

it will be carried,

sloshing, ten paces then poured

in a granite pot

from which it will be scooped with

a tin-cupped ladle

and tossed over a life-size

statue of Fudo,

the god of fire and wisdom,

covered now in moss

sustained by countless dousings

across the decades

from hopeful petitioners

like this very man

who is puffing while pumping

water for worship

as I write where I began

this poem at Hozen Temple.

Andrew Lansdown

Petals Scattering

i

Not long airborne—

the cherry petals so quick

to leave the tree.

ii

Giddying along—

the cherry petals heading

towards the gutter.

iii

Following after—

fallen petals floating on

the spilling water.

iv

Hopes of freedom—

the springtime cherry petals

gone with the wind.

Andrew Lansdown