Summer Days' End - Lotus Pond Viewing

I wish not to be disturbed

Snoring; While the heated breeze claims me,

Dreaming; About things mortal eyes can't see,

As the crickets perform their annual chorus,

The cicadas cry while dancing on lotus.

Eyes closed; But the Eastern Sky oversees me,

Open space; And my heart beats freely,

Surrounded by beauties worth yearning for,

I let myself be drowned by the earthly odor. 

Wind chimes ring rigid, that I feared the most,

It foretells an ending to my summer prose,

This lasting stench of a sober summer,

Here, I thought it would last forever...

On the veranda that reeks of soaked wood,

The buddhist saintess formidably stood,

By her statue's feet, anyone could've found me,

Quietly -- crying; To tuneless melodies. 

I wished then I would let myself drown,

The temple's roof couldn't hold me down,

I wished to fling myself into the pond with haste,

Because to lead another life, like this, is a waste,

But the stench of lotus flowers calmed me down,

And the water hyacinths wouldn't let me drown,

The mountains of my viewing are still too far,

It was still early for me, to become -- another star.

The noon that day I spent sleeping,

Dreaming - Without images, thinking,

Of distant sorrows I would return to,

Until then, I walked in another's shoes.

As my dreams came to a halt,

The sky was closing,

I packed all my fantasies into a vault,

But overheard the lotuses tearing,

The cries of the budding blooms,

Spoke to the souls of the lost and uncertain,

Above this eastern pond, and my would-be-tomb,

The night hastily rules, as Summer closes its curtains. 

- Leon / Stu. T.H. (December 15, 2023)