Leaf-Washing, Japan:
Pantoum
jayne marek
80
A red-capped crane amid pine trees
steps gently, slim legs flexing like twig-tips,
the tall bird’s cap a red disk, a winter sun
against white-snow feathers.
Gently, slim legs flexing like twig-tips,
the tall bird sifts through the leaf-litter,
sun against its white-snow feathers
and green layers of fallen leaves
as the tall bird searches in leaf-litter.
Black neck, black eye fix upon
a single dark-green fallen leaf. The bird
pauses in thought, an arc of attention,