wind in the bamboo

a valence of wind in the pines; matsukaze

the sound they make,
when they sway in the wind.

that sound.
i just listened
an orchestra at play.

fibers twisting;
stringed instruments;
crickets –
stacks of boxes moving
in the back of a box truck across
highways –
the steel of a railroad
under the weight of a passing train.

the tension of each
cellulose fiber rubbing
against its neighbor.

this strength
of bamboo;

“connect yourself
with the earth”1

shearing –
tension,
wind and
biological steel.

do you hear it?
do you feel it?

oh yes.
oh yes.


1 sensei says this, and it goes through generations in various fractal trees of lineage-wisdom. some ebb and flow, some are consistent, some are stormy. in our, it is direct, like a lightning bolt.