ASAKUSA HONGANJI TEMPLE IN THE EASTERN CAPITAL – a poem by Lee Evans

ASAKUSA HONGANJI TEMPLE IN THE EASTERN CAPITAL
                (after Hokusai)
 
Up on a roof,
Up on a hill,
Above the clouds.
 
The Temple always needs repairs.
It’s always deteriorating—
And so we are always building, building.
 
And so the kite is always flying, flying,
Over the clouds,
Attached to a string
Held by someone far below us
Among the huddled houses.
 
And a scaffolding touches the sky
From somewhere across town;
But nobody climbs it,
Nobody hangs on for dear life.
 
White clouds pass through its skeleton
Swaying in the wind from the Mountain.
 
The Temple needs repairs.
The kite is always flying.
The scaffolding touches the sky.
 
Up on a roof,
Up on a hill,
Above the clouds.

Lee Evans lives in Bath, Maine, with his wife and works at the local YMCA.