EcoTheo Review: “In the Morikami Gardens I Leave Coins at a Stone Shrine”

“In the Morikami Gardens I Leave Coins at a Stone Shrine,” Spring 2023 | Published in EcoTheo Review IN THE MORIKAMI GARDENS I LEAVE COINS AT A STONE SHRINE Praying to gods I don’t know, I surrender three quarters

and hope it’s enough. If only it were this easy

to heal your lungs. Bamboo pipes remind me

of the patch that thrived behind my home.

So untamed, it sent shoots running into the neighbor’s yard

and I worried they’d complain. Rusty herons ignore visitors

who make their way along the fine gravel path.

No one reflects on the rock gardens for long

or ponders the foam that gathers at the mouth of the falls.

I’ve read that the Egyptian goddess of medicine,

Sekhmet, was duped into drinking beer

instead of blood. Like her, some days I’m fooled

by the power of alcohol, into believing

the pain it dulls will disappear for good. Koi circle

beneath the bridge, disinclined to leave the pond.