DAYBREAK LEAF ALIVE Poem by Makoto Ooka

Somehow there was
a cool rain bathing
the fruit's insides
that dawn

The leek and the tofu
turned into beads of fragrant scent,
vying in lightness with the light
And also the waves of the woman's robe,
carelessly flung on the floor

Hand resting on the chilly phone,
she was staring at the sand
as it began to lighten
Even gulls melted into the hush,
the tide heavy at dawn

Awake
the whole night through,
was there a border for them
between today and yesterday?

The two were a cave that admitted heaven,
a map that filled the cave, a mandala of love

And yet somehow
the woman
was a forest of fragrance,
was the light of dawn,
running to the dawn's own depths

I saw a single leaf
go mad with joy at the sound
of a waterfall high in the blue sky
Somehow the leaf
was taking a leisure of a field

Somehow
that single leaf's words
went on
forever
and they were mine