Kubota-sama Dreams in Silk, by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Kimono, by Kubota Itchiku (Japan) before 2003 ©Itchiku Tsujigahana co., Ltd.

Kubota-sama Dreams in Silk

after reading Opulence: The Kimonos and Robes of Kubota Itchiku (Itchiku Kubota) 

His hand, steady, gentle
takes narrow bands of silk
places tiny stitches 
silk puckers
mini hills, mini canyons
dyes of love.
 
Vibrant colours emerge
purple     blue     pink     golden
four seasons
in kimonos to grace a wall
a graceful body.
 
Dreams of silk
flare when the wearer
turns in unAsian haste
betrays western clothes
beneath
garish     loud.
 
Kimono evokes
samurai
chivalry
gentility of sword
seppuku.
 
Poetry interwoven with pain 
shimmer together 
in narrow
bands of silk
simple
elegant
regal 
kimono
dreams of Kubota-sama.
 
Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Lenora Rain-Lee Good lives near the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA. Her latest chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas, published by Finishing Line Press. She writes fiction, radio dramas, and poetry. Her words have appeared in online and print anthologies, including Quill and Parchment, Fixed and Free, and Notes of Light and Dark: Southwestern Aubades and Nocturnes. Her favourite poetical quote: “A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.” ~ Robert Heinlein