A Gift for You - A Flower and A Poem

Just a few days ago I visited the Lan Su Chinese Gardens for their displays of chrysanthemums.

Isn't the tiger made of flowers amazing?

There was also fall/autumn colors.

Can you tell me why some people call this time of year fall and why some say autumn? I have never figured that out.

At the Teahouse

Inside it's warm.

Infused with choices

I order Chrysanthemum Flower;

you, Jade Cloud.

Outside, mist drizzles softly

into the ornate cup of the garden,

steeps slowly into the green tea 

of the pond.

Here, nothing is strained.

Together we sip, leisurely as clouds

from pools of leaves and petals

floating in gaiwan bowls--

lids, like our conversation, held back a bit

so as to filter what's superfluous

from our lips.

Behind us,

the two women

pouring out to one another

refill after refill,

water under the covered bridge

about their most recent breakups,

each of us cradling the warm

but fragile touch of porcelain

in our hands.

Beside them,

the little altar

with its sweet smell 

of burned-out incense

lying in a heap of ashes

at the feet of Kuan Yin.

by Daniel Skach-Mills

And we will end where we began, only from the rear of the tiger.

Have an amazing week, dear friends!