SONG TO THE POTTER WHILE DRINKING TEA

SONG TO THE POTTER WHILE DRINKING TEA

    To Soji Hamada, and all potters
    gathered in mountain valleys
    between the Sierras and Hokkaido.

In the valleys, potters pinch humble pots
from clay beginnings that was once stone.
They return it to the fire and it turns back into stone.

As your tea steeps in the raku bowl
remember to thank the earth
for the laughter of glaciers
that churned the stones to powder;
clay flour that drifted downward
from the light tops of mountains
to alluvial valleys etched in darkness.

Remember to thank the fire
for returning the pot into stone;
and the woodcutter for the logs that fired
the pot.
Don't forget the burning logs for the ash
that settled on the shoulders of pots
making the glaze.

Remember to thank the earth.
She is very old
and sometimes we forget
she can hear us.
Thank her for the tree,
the rock,
the glacier,
and the light.

And then, may your teabowl
be filled
with laughter
and light.

no date, 1983
Ridge Review