Jizo Stones
Kyoto Blossoms
for Susan
i
Lovely, the flowering
cherries … and yet, near the end
somehow lonely, too.
ii
The falling petals—
almost they make us forget
we are immortals.
iii
No weeping, dear heart—
they are just petals and they
were lost from the start.
Andrew Lansdown
Frog Cacophonies
I Marsh
i
Chirpy as crickets—
fellowship of little frogs
by the paperbarks.
ii
Only the first week
of winter—what sort of ruckus
in a month, marsh frogs?
II Dam
i
The dam at dusk—
two or three motorbike frogs
start revving up.
ii
Having a track meet
by the farm dam at midnight—
the motorbike frogs.
III
Puddle
i
On the second beat
a second frog also croaks—
chill winter evening.
ii
Antiphonal—
two frogs calling either end
of the puddle.
IV
Well
i
In a shallow pool
a deep-well stone-dropping sound
from a hidden frog.
ii
No way out, but still
such a high and happy yell—
the frog in the well.
V
Swamp
i
One million frogs
or one megafrog? Can’t tell
from the racket!
ii
Oh stop, you jolly
little frogs—it’s unseemly
to be so happy!
Andrew Lansdown
Jizo Stones by the Three-Storeyed Pagoda
Kōfuku-ji, Nara
Treading softly the deer
graze among the Jizo stones
where mothers shed a tear
for their aborted children
and try to stem their fear
that the children suffer there
the hell they suffered here.
Andrew Lansdown
The Unheard Stags
Maybe it’s because
I walked with my beloved
that I never heard
among the herds of Nara
the lonely belling of stags?
Andrew Lansdown
from Kyoto Spring Love Tanka
Faces
Even the faces
of a cherry tree aren’t as
delicately flushed
as my beloved’s face since
we lay together in love.
Andrew Lansdown
Many will disagree, but World War III is too great a risk to run by involving ourselves in a distant border conflict
Sep 25 2024
5 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins