Ruins

All the world is in ruins,
and I’m trying to build it up.
The Lord waits on me,
as He too needs rest.

Written in March 2025

Seeds

I’ve planted so many seeds, yet I still can’t find my garden.
Like a borderless country, my roots are everywhere—
I have many places to call home, but none of them feels like one.
My home is the garden—the one I have yet to grow.

Written in March 2025

Samurai

I love you as Japan loves its cherry trees;
Strongly enough to keep them close,
Freely enough to let them blossom.
You’re my samurai;
the keeper of my heart’s nobility
and the strategic warrior of my freedom.
You’re both my medieval and modern Kyoto;
brave in transition, and harmonic in development.
I love you as a graceful geisha loves her life;
through art and tradition,
through grief and sadness,
through bravery and subtlety.
You’re
You’re the reiwa of my akiya heart –
One that fills the insufferable emptiness
with old pages of the Manyoshu.

Written in April 2019