Formation Luck – beat56

September 29, 2022

Nariyoshi took the tiny leaf between 
his  fingers and looked at the bark behind 
it clipped another leaf away stood back 
went in close again and pruned quickly 
a number of leaves lent back and took
a long admiring look at the bonsai tree
the stem was floating upwards into the sky
like a dragon suddenly unfurling attacked
or woken or like a Lao Tzu cloud floating 
in the universe the green of the leaves 
the pale brown aged bark looked so 
beautiful in the dark blue porcelain pot
a world unto itself a small world of
beauty and age purity tenderness a 
world of attention and care an ancient art
bonsai this dragon cloud tree was a hundred 
and fifty years old his father had left it 
for him when he died aaaaah father he 
thought smiling ruefully he put his 
scissors down rubbed his hands down 
his beat chino slacks then rubbed them 
together and straightened his back went 
to the sink and drank a tall glass of cold 
water and put some loose jasmine 
green tea into his ceramic kettle put a 
pan of water on the gas stove to boil 
rubbed his eyes sleepily stretched his
back again and went over to a drawer
in a dragon embossed lacquered 
bookshelf filled with old hardback
books about zen and bonsai a few
Japanese novels and karate textbooks 
with old papered covers with red string 
binds he opened the drawer and found 
an old sumi e painting box with a beautiful 
waterfall rocks and a pine tree on it 
took out an old bone metal and wood 
pipe chuckled to himself sighed and
went over to his brass and wood 
spirit lamp lit it and on the end of a 
needle held a small lump of opium up
over the flame the bubbles swelled and
turned golden and Miyage lay his head 
down on his embroidered opium pillow 
painted bright red with a golden dragon 
flying right across it made himself 
comfortable and began slowly to smoke 
the vapour reclining more and more onto 
the pillow his eyes growing heavy and still
and he began to dream smiling singing 
gently into himself into his own mind 
and then he thought of his dead wife 
and was full of the fresh sorrow of 
the old grief and then he thought of 
Daniel san and then he finally he thought 
of nothing and watched the smoke 
rising slowly like a dragon in the afternoon