Beginning

The metaphoric image of a panther in the snow is one given to me, not one I invented. I did, however, write a poem around it, and at the outset of this new blog I believe it is fitting to print that here.


Panther

Black bellies of bare branches
Snake through the silent forest
Under hay bales and hillocks of pure
White snow.
The air sharpens
The honey-lemon cough drop
Down my white throat.
Dusk stalks from the wood.
A form glides onto my path
Like ink pooling in the eye.
A great cat traces
Ice-laden lines of old bamboo
Looking for seclusion.
High China, winter.
Everything out of place:
The black panther,
The snow,
My eye.