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
