Drying Tatami
Cassandra Farrin
You lay out the rice straw on the suspension bridge to bind it. Every three
years, replace the wisteria. When the bridge sways, sag vine—slice.
Underneath, an onsen of reclining macaques. Small hands but they hold
you. Next rise for the bell, bow, meditate on the mat. Monks tug the
hairline cracks. Let them: they’ve handled the falls before.
Cassandra Farrin is a poet, writer, and nonfiction editor from Idaho. A US-UK Fulbright Scholar, she has an M.A. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University in England. Her poem “On the Origin of the World” is forthcoming in Gender Violence, Rape Culture, and Religion (Palgrave MacMillan).