THE NORTH WINDOW: BAMBOO AND ROCK

A magisterial rock windswept and pure

and a few bamboo so lavish and green:

facing me, they seem full of sincerity.

I gaze into them and can’t get enough,

and there’s more at the north window

and along the path beside West Pond:

wind sowing bamboo clarities aplenty,

rain gracing the subtle greens of moss.

My wife’s still here, frail and old as me,

but no one else: the children are gone.

Leave the window open. If you close it,

who’ll keep us company for the night?