Daniel Hall(b. 1952)
Love-Letter-Burning
The archivist in us shudders at such cold-
blooded destruction of the word, but since
we're only human, we commit our sins
to the flames. Sauve qui peut;1 fear makes us bold.
Tanka2 was bolder: when the weather turned
from fair to frigid, he saw his way clear
to build a sacrificial fire
in which a priceless temple Buddha burned.
( T h e p r e t e x t ? S i m p l e : w h a t h e s o u g h t
was legendary Essence in the ash.
B u t i f i t s h o w s u p o n l y i n t h e f l e s h — ?
H e g r i n n e d a n d s a i d , L e t ' s b u r n t h e lot!)
B e l i e v e r s i n t h e a f t e r l i f e p e r f o r m
t h i s p u r i f y i n g r i t e . A t l a s t
a m a t c h is s t r u c k : it's d o n e . T h e p a s t
w i l l s h e d s o m e l i g h t , b u t n e v e r k e e p u s w a r m .