Two Japanese Paintings Poem by Amy Uyematsu

l. Black Ink
In two strokes
of the brush
"flower"
"moon"
Is this the time
when night
blooms
longest
What fragrant bud
inside this rising
lunar
light

2. White Water
On a hot August day the painter sets her easel next to the river.
The Oirase Stream rushes past, its waters still full
from the long winters of Snow Country.
She has painted the river countless times
but hopes to capture the rapids
suspended in air.
The current moves
as if it knows
it must feed the rice fields
and farms of the valley below.
Patches of green detail
the surrounding maple, pine, and moss
on her unfinished canvas
while the river awaits—
once more she readies her brush,
the play of afternoon light
on water
so luminous and white.