On glimpsing Kyoto

You are untranslatable,
you fathomless dream,
but now I can finally say this: you exist.

For so long I carried you
in the depths of my imagination
but tonight, you carry me.

In the waves of your gravel,
the winter light on your old houses
and the whispers of your countless gods,
you happen.

As this weightless day fades
and an orange darkness envelops us,
oh Kyoto,
my gardened paradise,
I give myself up to you.

Tonight you course through me
and I live in rapture,
I live you,
I love you, I love you, I love you.


[5:19 pm, 7th December 2022, Kyoto.]