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Lewis Alexander, "Japanese Hokku Poems" (1929)

213
JAPANESE HOKKU POEMS

I

The wind is a comb
Fixing clouds about the moon
In a new coiffure.

II

The night is a bride.
The moon is a coronet.
The sky is a veil.

III

Lo! I am a lute
On which life plays at will.
Who will catch the song?

IV

Life is a mountain.
I'll climb the summit at length,
Unto death's vastness.

V

To stand a-tip-toe
Upon a mountain of dreams
Is to rule a kingdom.

VI

To live just one day
Intelligent of beauty,
Is to live a life.

VII
The young lady moon
Let her hair down like a net
To catch the star fish.

VIII

Who'll open the door?
Who'll turn the key behind me?
Who'll share my exile?

-Lewis Alexander.

Published in Troubador, June 1929

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