Koto no Yume by Michael L. Utley

Image Source: Canva

In dreamland forests of my soul I hear

What deafened ears in waking cannot know

A yearning in konara groves

That lilts in silent soft-edged shadows calls

The stream conversing with the hart has hushed

Its liquid-silver voice now mute

As herons ankle-deep in currents pause

And reverently bow in pious prayer

The insects cease their gossip in the ferns

And in anticipation preen their wings

As purple katakuri nod

At crimson higanbana through the leaves

And sly kitsune slinks from trunk to trunk

A flash of pale white-flickered tail

To find a seat ‘neath green-leafed momiji

Or ‘neath the needled kuromatsu boughs

And in my dream the forest holds its breath

Eternity descends upon the trees

And all who love and care for them

As gilded god-beams light the mossy stage

Then from the forest depths there comes a sound

That filters through the canopy

A song that renders deafened hearing moot

A song heard not with ears but with the heart

The stirring notes of strings plucked heavenly

By fingers blessed by goddesses above

A visionary eloquence

My koto no yume, my koto dream

Then, riding on the sunlit motes, appears

A glowing form adorned in hues

Of wild flowers, seas of green, sky blue

A maiden of unspeakable allure

This tennyo who deigns to entertain

Floats lithely in her hagoromo garb

Her feathered kimono as fair

And bright as golden taiyoko above

Her voice then whispers softly and with care

And all the world has ceased its spin

As ocean tides and fragrant winds stand still

To listen and to learn and understand

She sings of wondrous beauty as her voice

Begins to rise and fall among the trees

Her lyrics tell a tale of life

And loss and sorrow and redemptive hope

And as her words fall gently to the ground

She spreads her arms and looks at me

Her voice a solemn tone as koto fades

And tears the tinct of summer rainstorms fall

“These woods,” she says, “and all that live herein

And all the earth and sea and sky above

Are gifts to you and in your care

But paradise is fleeting, sunset looms…”

And in my dream I watch the forest fade

As oceans rise and skies turn dark

And animals lay choking on the fumes

Of human hubris, and the figure says,

“The choice is yours, but tarry not…farewell…”

And she is gone and I awake to find

Myself alone in midnight thoughts

And listen for the strains of koto strings

But all I hear is silence in the night

And all I see as I peer through

My open window is the waning moon

As it paints with a sterling brush the trees

Of distant woods and stream and meadowland

And since my ears are deaf, I use my heart

I close my eyes and breathe in deep

To reconnect with nature once again

Then faintly as a forest sigh I hear

The somber song of koto strings

And opening my eyes I see the streak

Of sleek kitsune tail cross the lea

And hart emerging from the sleeping woods

And herons winging slowly past the moon

And in my heart the choice is clear

My koto no yume, my koto dream

*koto – A Japanese stringed instrument

-MICHAEL L. UTLEY

Mike is a deaf writer/photographer who lives in rural southwest Colorado, USA.  His love of nature shines through his poetry and photography, both of which he uses to make sense of his world.

Please visit Silent Pariah to read and view more of his wonderful work.

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