By Vita Forest
In the gardens of Konchi-In
We learn that there are not four seasons
There are seventy-two
And right now
At this very moment
We are in the season
Where the flat leaves of the lily pads in the pond
turn to yellow and brown
Walk the same paths
Watch the same scenes
With eyes open
By Vita Forest
On that first day
In the gardens of the Imperial Palace
(In the part that you can visit
If you are ordinary
And not royal)
Lucy found an acorn on the pathway
Gleaming in the rain
We looked around but could not see
Totoro
Perhaps he was atop one of the lush leafy trees
That dripped rain onto the soft grass
and the beds of thickly-planted iris
Perhaps he still had his wide black umbrella
And did not need our smaller paler shelters
Translucent as raindrops
By Vita Forest
One day,
While focusing on where
I placed my feet
Amongst the rough uneven rocks
And crawling roots of ancient cherry trees
On the slopes of the Kumano Kodo,
I heard behind me the sound of a
Strider
Fast approaching
Heels ringing on stone.
I glanced behind me
And met
The eyes of a small boy
Who blinked and passed me by
Without a word
Continuing on at the same fast clip
He favoured,
Up around the corner and
Sailing out of sight
Amongst the trees
While I continued slow and crablike
Testing the moss between the rocks
With my pole and two-pronged stick
Finding the firmest way.
And I wondered
Had I imagined him?
This small child
improbably alone
Was he a forest sprite?
floating through the forest
with such confidence?
But later
At a lookout
I saw him again
Swinging his legs
as he munched on a snack
and looked out
At the mountains that receded
in layers
Far into the distance
He sat apart from the
weary walkers resting beneath a shelter
He sat and ate and looked
and waited
His face splitting into a grin
When the rest of his family
Finally
Caught up.
He had proven his point
He was as fast
As the wind.
Jotterizing 