Waiting for Basho

John Savoie

sapling so slender 

you could surely count the leaves; 

my guess: seventeen 

            * 

the spotted fawn

vanishes;

queen anne’s lace

             *

the neighbor’s tree

                dips three apples

         over the fence

             *

autumn grasses

bent with dew

so heavy with light

             *

November rain

all the pumpkins

that didn’t get picked

             *

one apple

high in the tree;

first snow

             *

in this rotten stump

that will never bloom again

blades of grass sprouting

After teaching six years in Japan, JOHN SAVOIE currently teaches great books, Homer to Basho, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Read More.

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