D’s Bones

In the wild Alaskan yard
of the Muller’s home, I hide
from the other kids. If I
stay very still and will
myself invisible, I won’t be
seen. It works.
But now,
years later,
I can’t
stop.

(No. 52 in a series of responses to Han-shan’s Songs of Cold Mountain)

You know that place inside, where you want to be invisible sometimes? That day in the Muller’s yard over 50 years ago is still fresh in my mind. It really did work. Now I’m working hard to reappear.

(Numeric reference to Han-shan’s poem reflects the order of presentation in Burton Watson’s translation, presented as Cold Mountain, Columbia University Press, 1970.)