Flat-Bottomed Boat Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

I float
In a flat-bottomed boat
On transparent water
Under a tranquil mid-Spring sky.

Someone else does the punting.
His voice drones on
Explanations meant to draw my attention
But I simply gaze out and take in
The beauty that surrounds me.

There are others on this journey with me
But I leave them to their own reveries.
For me this is a moment of revelation
Something sets me free
Even as I sit, docile, passive
Carried along a predetermined course
In a pristine setting where all is balanced
Not by nature, but by design.

Below me calico carp glide,
Healthy, well-fed, content.
Around me bonsai trees preen
Given just enough sun,
Exposed to just enough cold,
Wrapped in straw when winter comes.

But for as long as this boat glides
I can close my mind to the world outside
Where rivers dry up or flood
Where mud slides or typhoons rip through
Flimsy villages where people live from day to day
In a chaos of their own and Nature's making.

For the time it lasts, I will bask.
I will not ask questions.
I will put aside my anxiety.
I will accept what is in front of me
As the oasis it is meant to be
From myself and reality.