WebPoems

Delighted, the cranes drink, preen, and call--

The couple sails off for the hill that's been

Logged so thoroughly it looks like chin stubble,

Or perhaps to the slope where trees do survive

Far up the summer slope of the landmark

We all spot from the Japan Airlines windows,

As we stuff our inflight magazine into

The seatback silkscreened with another crane in a circle,

And every Japanese says how pretty,

In the tone Californians use for Tuolomne meadows

Or Yosemite, that dying swoon,

The pleasure of at last seeing the original of

The TV emblem, or red neon ad,

Guaranteeing all some inner grace, like the touch

Of temple smoke on the forehead,

Good fortune brushed in priestly calligraphy,

Or a photo souvenir, capturing

The sentiment and the corporate mark, Mount Fuji.