A Dozen Ways to Still

 
The first line of each haiku or senryu below is taken from Shu Ting‘s poem “The Singing Flower,” translated from the Chinese by Carolyn Kizer.
 

I return to you
every evening at sundown—
still your door is locked.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Pounding at your door,
my hands still in bandages—
will you let me in?
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Sit in the darkness,
bid your frantic heart be still—
hush, the singer comes.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
On a speeding train
I try to still my wild heart—
frightened little fawn.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Permit me to dream
of things I still care about—
plum trees blossoming.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
My little basket
will still hold a few ripe plums—
this one is for you.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Your singing flower
cannot soothe my troubled heart—
still, I will listen.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Come in the morning
when I am still ripe with sleep—
press me to your lips.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
I reserve the right
to still your strident singing—
why are you amazed?
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
in the barley fields
harvesters still swinging scythes—
lightning in the east
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
My poems travel
from here to Venus and back—
still no one reads them.
 
~~ ~~ ~~
 
Guided by flowers,
I am still finding my way
fragrance by fragrance.

 
© 2012 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More We Write Poems: NaPoWriMo #22
 
More The April Heights: “Still”