Grant me rest under your lissome stems
Let me hide from the raindrops — shiny globules
That drip with tropical hauteur,
Rain that harms the ribs with cold rebukes.
Welcome me within your greenish lair, from
Your cane roots to your starry leaves —I insist on visiting
In your prime, so fresh with dew and so green, like
The envy in the gritty eyes of singed composts,
When waving rays of the shifting sun
Bathe the narrow venues formed by adjoining stems
Up, up and up the stairs and dome of the jungle.
I pray to shoot up with you and befriend the skies.
Oh, such elevation!
Fill my gourd with green wine;
Make me drunk with the spewing colours of life.
My heart is open to receive light —from misty dawn to
Dusk crowned with your blessing.
Let it rain on, I pray.
My palms are spread out like your leaves — I borrow the
Innocence of your frondescence.
Carve me flutes from your nodes, and, from them
Raise the cadences for summons, to be accompanied by
Drums fashioned by hands greased by the gifts of
The forests. . . .
Raise the joy, the frenzy, the tone of the ceremony
Raise, raise . . . upheave them
To royal heights — such as yours.
Mist feathery drifts
last night’s breath loosening
above basalt slopes of Huatung
Pacific swallows trace morning brushwork
over Fuli’s rice paddies
new green scented with rain.
Xiuguluan River flows jade mountain-born
among ancestral stones
white willows in Ruisui weep
dew-kissed
cycad fronds catching first sunlight
Leaf pearls gather on my thatched sandals
Walami earth holds stories in its coolness.
Bihe Pond rests hidden in Wanrong’s stillness
waters reflecting the tribe’s quiet prayers
Bamboo leaves in green and gold
crested mynas gather in quiet repose
wind moves with the chime of a temple bell.
Ancestral path wanders into the Central Range
oolong tea clouds drift
above Qilai’s blue ridges
A white egret lifts over Guangfu’s terraces
air clear as poured Longjing.
A bulbul calls
blue magpie glides
the slow unlayering of day
Huatung Calligrapher’s span warm to newborn light
time unspools—
bright
unmeasured.
Light widens
dawn follows Yu Shan’s shadowed valleys
the world in quiet promise
soft light
drifting into morning.
bamboo pipes heaving raindrops
breaking silence against stone
deer runs off
I sit beneath the bamboo tree with my head resting on my knees
I wasn’t sure what time it is but the sun had gone down and the
Birds in the trees were crying out; I sat there listening quietly to nature sounds and watching the bamboo dancing to the rhythm of the howling wind while I hum a woeful hymn of long ago about the dust and the bowl and the noisy owl. I sat beneath the bamboo tree with my heart laden with misery; I try to force a tender smile, but my heart kept moving with the tide, and the pigment in the skies disappears and rain clouds appear. I sat there until it was dark then I slowly made my way back to the yard. The mountain suddenly fell from my head when I heard the news that you were coming to the synagogue to bury the dead. At first, I thought it was a dream but when I saw you in person my spirit began to scream and everything came alive
Take me to the blue lagoon there is something magnificent that you have to see and when you wet your feet in the water, all the demons will get up and flee.
Bamboo needs soaking
To make it more pliable
It's easy to bend.
I love bamboo
It bent when wind
Blows strongly.
bamboo
tissue
breakthrough
achoo
Hold onto your bamboo tissue box,
for quickly comes breakthrough achoo shocks.
Bamboos are awesome
It bend when the wind smites
Such clever wisdom.
Bamboo has usage
For houses, accessories
It's craftsman's knowledge
Panda took a bite of the new bamboo
It was fresh and green, but there was a goo
What kind of crud is this? He asked sky of blue
Sky laughed at his consternation, wouldn’t you?
“This new bamboo is as tasty as a tennis shoe!”
He was joined by two cousins, Little Lee and Lu.
They crunched down onto the new green bamboo
This tastes horribly gummy like wallpaper glue!
Hey! Come here! They yelled to Aunt Booby Boo.
She ran right over and said “quit kidding, you!”
Why are you eating the prop put out here by Sue?
Tearing it apart, and eating out the glue?
This irritated Panda, Little Lee and unlovely Lu.
They growled and groused the entire day through.
How did we not see it was plastic? Asked Lu from the dew.
They had no answers, the other cousins, two.
In the bamboo grove where sunbeams gently shine,
Emerald leaves glisten, a vibrant lifeline,
Through bamboo's pores, the wind's sweet serenade,
Melodious music in the grove is made.
Parrots, cuckoos, and mania birds take flight,
In this colorful haven, they find their delight,
Bamboo's lesson, in the storm, it does convey,
Strength and flexibility on a gusty day.
Survival's idol, in harsh weather's embrace,
Bamboo bows gracefully, offers its space,
To sprouts that flourish in its fading light,
A testament to life's unyielding might.
By night, the bamboo grove takes on its charm,
Moonlight through leaves, casting a tranquil psalm,
In the heart of romance, trees gently sway,
Knots become ladders to love's higher way.
Plum blossoms under the moon's silvery gaze,
Eternal lovers, through endless nights and days,
Trees stand tall, branches shelter blossoms pink,
In this grove, friendships and fortunes link.
Help me Mum I'm stuck up this tree,
I thought it was Bamboo I just couldn't see,
It's getting quite windy, so I gripping much tighter,
And I don't want to worry you but my grips getting slighter,
Come and get me Mum and I'll promise I will be a good little Panda,
Well I will be after I've eaten my tea.
Row of bamboo at lake’s edge.
Lattice-laced curtains.
NB: Inspired by Suzanne Delaney’s contest and subsequent blog (3-29-2023). This form arose from the oral tradition of “call and response.” In the rhythm of their work and perhaps in the spirit of a game or to relieve boredom, people would call out to each other. The first speaker called out a line that contained an image. A second speaker replied using a second image. This second image was meant to function as an elaboration or metaphor of the first. No titles, no particular rhyme or syllabic scheme.
bamboo of life
tree of life and soul
wonder of tree or grass?
Anji County of China is the town of bamboo
Visitors arrive in cars, more than a few.
Cooks could add some stems to their tasty stew
But giant panda consumes most shoots and stems of bamboo
Bamboo borers are a delicacy, tasty and sweet
Caterpillar to you, but don’t try to count his feet
We found six in the canebrakes yesterday said the cook.
It is best to consume this dish without a real close look.
Japanese giant timber bamboos grow faster than these
One grew forty-seven inches in twenty-four hours. Oh, please!
Bamboo paintings and woodworking is a pleasure to see.
Please look away from the table for a second; stop looking at me.
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