{"id":1716,"date":"2019-03-19T10:53:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T02:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2019-03-30T22:11:45","modified_gmt":"2019-03-30T14:11:45","slug":"bamboo-shoots-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/2019\/03\/19\/bamboo-shoots-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bamboo shoots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"bamboo<\/a>
Poems like this are like a bamboo grove, planted and nurtured by half-forgotten old folk, relentlessly tossed by the wind and rain, their foliage shed in the worst seasons of drought. But hopefully they’ll endure, for children to discover the ancient nooks and crannies where they will play and build their own dreams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BAMBOO SHOOTS<\/p>\n

Many years have carved these slopes.
\nIt was around this time in March when
\nNorth Wind tarried on, defying summer thirst,
\nand a thousand shoots of green rejoiced.
\nThey’d passed the test, and cried for joy, and raced uphill.
\nAnd we, who nurtured them, were about to shout
\nour wildest greetings when the thought struck us:<\/p>\n

Titled erudites in robes they’re not
\nbut nonetheless proud gracile barefeet children,
\nthinned by drought and scarred by storms,
\nwho volunteered to scale the heights
\nand scatter raging monsoon winds,
\nthough they bend and break in shadow.
\nSoon, and gently, they will guard all ridges.<\/p>\n

Behold, our finest sons and daughters touch the sky
\nand soon we’ll carpet this beautiful land
\nin crimson fruit and golden grain from ridge to coast.
\nThough we’re not yet allowed to write their names.
\nJust not as yet their real names.<\/p>\n

Jun Verzola
\n19 March 2014
\n(with minor revisions 19 March 2019)<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Follow @junverzola<\/a>