I Take a Picture of An Icicle Hanging from My House’s Gutter And Even Though the Icicle Drops Seconds Later I Write the Following Poem Composed in One-Line Stanzas I Am Not Prepared to Defend With Any Theory but Insist You Take Seriously For The Moment As If I Really Do Know Why I Did It That Way
Icicle depending from the gutter and clarity of tree shadow on a snowy roof
Sky the blue of belief though nothing to hold on to
Like us the icicle hanging on lengthened by what’s leaving its way
Beneath it five drops of water like a memory are frozen in time
No telling what is still and what is moving
In your memory like a memory that drop will never change
In an image all about movement nothing will move
The icicle’s shape never seen before never again when I turn again
It has dropped from the gutter like it was never there the blue sky showing no surprise
The shadow of the maple’s high branches on the snowy roof
Translations from the English 
A “shape never seen before never again” — how else could you properly evoke the subject? The stanzas make the space that make us wonder; “nothing to hold on to”.
Thanks SJ!
as if impermanence can be frozen, then start to move again. Love this poem! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for coming by. Hope to see you again here–
Definitely. I am a student of Chinese poetry in the Song dynasty, and I came across your blog for your Mei Yaochen series. They ring true!
That’s great to hear! If you read that poetry in the Traditional characters and you’re interested in collaborating on some translation work, I’m looking to create translations of some of Mei’s work that has not been translated into English yet, to publish along with my own poems about Mei. If you’re interested write me directly at jeffrey.schwaner@gmail.com.