After Ryokan

by Judy Katz-Levine


Life is impermanent, full of changes.
I swim in the lake, stroke past the kids.
Sitting on the bench, a dragonfly.
Then he lifts off. Women talk, standing
on the sand. Children run to the water
playing a game with buckets. I brush
the sand off my feet. My partner is gone.


* * * * *

Judy Katz-Levine is the author of three full-length collections of poetry: The Everything Saint, Ocarina, and When The Arms Of Our Dreams Embrace. She has published widely in journals such as Salamander, Writing In A Woman's Voice", Fence, The Sun, Blue Unicorn, Miriam's Well, and Peacock Journal. Her work has been anthologized in The Dreamlife of Johnny Baseball and Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. She was the recipient of a Massachusetts Artist Foundation Fellowship in poetry and won the 34th Moon Prize from Writing In A Woman's Voice.