Do you remember Etajima,
And how, upon a moon-fogged sea,
As ghostly as ever a tide shall be,
We passed an island silently?
And how a low voice in the gloom
Of the temple pine-trees leaning there
Said _sayonara_ to one somewhere
Unseen in the shadow-haunted air?
Just _sayonara_: but it seemed
The soul of all farewells that night,
The sigh of all withdrawn delight,
The sound of love’s last rapture-rite.
And now, after long years, it comes
Again from isles of memory
To bring once more to birth in me
The breath of all lost witchery.
Yes, one low word of parting, now
Echoing, thro the fog of years,
Has touched my heart with beauty’s tears,
And youth thro all things reappears.
(Cale Young Rice)
More Poetry from Cale Young Rice:
Cale Young Rice Poems based on Topics: Love, Night, Soul, Sadness, Memory- Brude (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- Nirvana Days (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- Quest And Requital (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- The Colonel's Story (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- O-Shichi And Moto (Cale Young Rice Poems)
- Love's Cynic (Cale Young Rice Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Night Poems, Sadness Poems, Soul Poems, Memory PoemsBased on Keywords: reappears, shadow-haunted