MYSTERIA

Within the inner ear there are bones
which vibrate
when you hear--amazing how our bodies are built

What does an infant hold in its fists--
seed time before birth

Su Tung P’o saw snow as pear blossoms

Our Bradford pear
limbs snapped ice heavy shimmers

Inside blackened house candlelight wobbles

Sun Tung P’o wondered
how many blossoms you might see before dying

This Bradford
ornamental from trunk to limb bares no blossoms
but shapes itself into a heart now cracked as sorrow

I look up startled --
profusion of stars
no light on earth makes them dim

Reach up touch them
as fruit
leaning into the dead of night

Elon G. Eidenier

Published in the Tar River Poetry and put to music by Tim Risher