Late Afternoon Over a Bottle of Sake by John Brandi
I’m going to Santa Fe to have lunch with my cousin, so I decided I’d post another poem I found at the Palace of the Governors.
Late Afternoon Over a Bottle of Sake
By John Brandi
Blue clouds float
backwards in autumn sky.
Cottonwoods twirl in leaf song.
You open a bottle
of the finest sake. We scan the trees.
“Year after year, the same leaves
Over and over again.”
Your hair is white, life is full.
Bodhidharma, Buddy Holly
Memphis Minnie, Chet Baker
now silent in the meditation hall.
Sun stands on its legs,
The broken hoe
has become a morning glory.
You, a funny old guy with lots to say.
Buddha was born from Mara’s side.
Christ from a virgin.
Lao Tzu, barefoot, in a falling star.
What do you mean by miracle
I ask. You tell me your roshi told you
“Stand, now sit
You have just seen a miracle.”
