TATSUTA-HIME

by Joshua Gage

    —for RMB

She has lived in this season
so long, she has forgotten
the fire of trees disrobing
or the sibilance of her feet
as they wade through
discarded kimonos.

She only knows the eruption
of the crocus and the flush
of green across the land.

And yet, in the chill
between night and dawn
she hears the whisper
of silk, and feels the breath
of a leaf falling into her lap.