About two years ago I was experimenting with using Japanese poetic
frameworks and was trying to paraphrase and utilise poetry from the Tale
of Genji etc, but attempting to re-phrase the little cameos in my own words.
This poem seems to have been left out, so I offer it to you now.
Sometimes you visit,
unexpectedly, a friend
and you stumble on
evidence of graciousness.
No show is put on:
it is their habitual
way of doing things.
It reflects nobility.
Even if you were to spy
on them, you would find
they’d behave in the same way.
they’re true to themselves,
whether they are being watched,
or not. It’s integrity.
