Here is the poem for Tuesday, April 13. To celebrate National Poetry Month, I am posting a short poem, a question and prompt every other day during the month. Mostly they will be poems by my daily companions, the ancient Japanese and Chinese poets. I will do the prompt myself, either in prose or poetry, and invite you to join.

The mare’s vigilance:
watchful while her foal drinks
deeply from the spring
--Issa

Do you like this poem? Why or why not? How does it make you feel?
Prompt: Imitate Issa’s first line by naming another vigilant part of creation:

The moon’s vigilance
The morning star’s vigilance
The mother’s vigilance:
The blue heron’s vigilance…etc.

The monk’s vigilance:
watchful in the monastery chapel
only a full moon
and a flickering candle
for company
--Old Monk