A Quintuple of Poets: Part II

Mary Oliver in Edo Period Japan    
 
lived as a subordinate    
  tending family land;    
   
circumvented convention  
 when blood-letting    
 into slump-soiled cherry roots;  
each blossom's scarlet-stained  
 heart worn on its pink sleeve;    
   
groomed blue horses without fences  
  dazzling over squash-colored fields—    
counted five species of mimicking loons    
  drowning tadpole voices    
  down woodland throats;  
    
 remained alone after best-  
 friend Ai was purchased    
  by an okiya owner to settle debts—    
wed their garden    
bonsai tree instead    
   
Centuries have passed; but,  
edging along that sparse forest    
  you can still hear her lungs  
  breathing with the world    
~