6
Four Poems After Hiroshige by James Bell
Kinryusan Temple in Asakusa
after Hiroshige
begin with a word for snow
happenstance says the turn of a page
will reveal somewhere familiar
forgotten until returned to
takes the word away
and settles for snow as it falls
beyond the paper lantern held
up with rope from below
although large it cannot dominate
in the asymmetric shift to the left
to bring in the red and green of the entrance gate
both croppings are the frame we look through
as if this is a film still and will
unfreeze then move to show me more
and this is really a temple we visited
snow is only frozen water
there are no footprints though people walk
either side beside snow filled trees
and buildings across a vast expanse
of white that recedes in a reversed V
to display an early use of perspective
people as pins of colour under parasols
walk towards the flat red
of the temple's shapes
walk as if the ground is white paper
far from cicada song in summer
when parasols are for shelter from the sun
though the scene has a silence associated with winter
angles fixed and nothing moves
end with a word for snow