Idle drift in mulberry beams,
paper lanterns shine down on
ink pots empty and cracked, wooden
floor mangled in ink. Paper crumples
strewn in corners vast, rendered strips
hang from a bureau. Jade and azure robes
slumber, face planted in myths, poems
and incantation. Nearby, a table lined
in spectrum’s vast, in idle dormancy,
one thousand paper cranes inscribed with
poems of long ago masters. Rising moon flares
mumbled words break free. In waxen light
folded wings quiver, then flap. Folded feet tap,
then step. Folded necks bob, then arc.
An open window, the beginning of a thousand
paper journeys in a thousand colours.
~~~
Image found here: http://www.zachwong.com/html/wish.html
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
The image and your words are beautiful…folded wings quiver, then flap. Folded feet tap,
then step. Folded necks bob, then arc….I can almost see them taking off 🙂
Thank you for the comment.
That part went through a few drafts, so to see it work well is pleasing.
Gorgeous image (one can almost hear those thousand cranes), and your words complement it beautifully… Love
An open window, the beginning of a thousand
paper journeys in a thousand colours.
And yes, I could see those missives flying out the window to entrance passers-by
Thank you for the comment.
That is a lovely image. It’s pleasing to know something like that exists.
Ohh that’s wonderfully squishy! Love it!
Thank you for the comment.
No one’s ever called my writing squishy. You’ve made me impossibly happy with that.
I enjoyed your poem and the pictures. Delightful.
Thank you for the comment.
I’ve been playing around with origami so I figured I could write something about it.
Fantastic and magical to view & read cranes in multiple colors…
Paper cranes are pretty amazing. Simple to make but much fun to look at.
“one thousand paper cranes inscribed with poems of long ago masters.”… interesting line nicely used
Thank you for the comment,
There’s a Chinese poetry collection called “Poems of the Masters” and I just wanted to fit it somewhere.
How beautiful!
Thank you the comment.
Every so often, I have my moments.
The language and structure are beautiful. Glad to have found your work 🙂 — SMA
Thank you for the comment.
The structure and language are based on Chinese poetry. Both are pretty fun to work with.
This was lovely, I had a bad day today and your poem just brightened my evening. A thousand cranes and their magical colorful wish-fulfillment.
Well, I hope your days have been better since. I don’t like seeing people upset.
I don’t know how many cranes I’ve made but I think it’s near 50. So just 950 to go then. Sweet.
Painted a picture in my mind.There would be a distinctive aroma, too, in the workshop, with a trace going with each crane. I see happy children, and smiling grownups. Very effective imagery.