After Howe
"After Howe" is a poem concerned with the trajectory of wisdom and knowledge. It attempts to navigate the relationship between generations, eras, and histories.
Nature, wisdom, innocence, space, free verse
the windmill sways in meteor fallwe wait cocooned on each its blade
they came to us with knotted armschildren, hooded, holding stars
they say we are cartographers all, coveting pieces of astral bodies, corn kernels lit alive
they raise their staves and throw them downits golden rings shake and sound
command spoken, unwritten:fall. and concrete cracks
corn stalks arc their backsto the gravity of the inward moon
And from the sky bamboo!caught by hooded childrenwrapped in a tapestry
And from the sky bamboo!where the stalks begin we do not knowspiraling, their leaves whirlwind, wise on our shoesI don't know.
And from the sky bamboo!"yes, but what did you see?""yes, but in what capacity?" [End Page 175]
And from the sky bamboo!we break apart our silken skiesand dew the earth with meteorites
outside, hooded children mage the fields [End Page 176]
Shin Watanabe is a Japanese-American poet who has traveled across the country. Besides writing, he enjoys nature; the internet; and his pet tortoise, Gaia.
