Inspired by Kenneth Rexroth’s One Hundred Poems From the Japanese, I’ll tell part one of my México City visit in a similar form. I begin, however, with one from the Rexroth collection: I have always known That at last I would Take this road, but yesterday I did not know that it would be today. -Narihira (9th century) ***************************************** The Houston sunset from 10,000 feet and I’m thinking about California fires hoping my family out west is not in harm’s way….
She sits maybe thirty feet away from where I’m trying my damnedest to stay awake. Blue and lime streaks in her dark brown hair. Black velvet wedges, a wrist tattoo. Her spine leans into the book in her lap. If she’s on my flight she still has more than three hours to wait. Long enough to kill the rest of that book. Long enough for a lot of things. My 3am wakeup taxes my ability to reason. I’ve already started and stopped a half dozen things, too tired to see them through. I’m also caught in some kind of clumsy…
