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Shinto and Zen

K W Emert

I should have been
     A big finny koi fish.
     Uneven calico,
          gold and silver and pearlized
               Scales
     Flash incandescent under the topaz,
     Sun-streaked ripples of
          Cool tended waters in
               Some idyllic Kyoto garden.

     The one untethered, unfettered enigma
     Allowed in the manicured absolute
          Certainty of the masterpiece
     All the masters of Shinto and Zen
          Snip and bind and twine
               To perfection.

I should have been
     A big finny koi fish,
     The flutter of movement
          Following sunbeams filtered through
               Water
     Settling round the smooth grey granite
     Moss-coated, living, but oh so slowly.
          Streamers of fins,
               gauzy and flowing,
     Dancing behind my abundant body,
     Billowing out in wild abandon,
          Inside some tended Kyoto Garden.

                                        December 2, 2006