Two Variations on a Poem by Tohko Malyama

by T Newfields






I.

Certainities vanish:
Isn't that a hallmark of change?

Beauty appears
then withers:
What seems "new" today
quickly becomes
out-of-date.

Isn't human "progress"
a fleeting shape?
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II.

Clearly the world is in flux
Alluring things also fade.

Revolving doors
can be deceiving:
what direction is
actual change?

Tiring of the
"Yes we can" mantra
I ask myself,
"Is there any real change"
from Josei Gaka no Zenbou
Bijutsu Nenkan-sha (2003: 163)