Underneath My Stiffened Gown Is

Happiness: We Rarely Feel It. I Would Buy It, Beg It, Steal It, Pay In Coins Of Dripping Blood For This One Transcendent Good.

Brighter Than Fireflies Upon The Uji River Are Your Words In The Dark, Beloved.

Time! Joyless Emblem Of The Greed Of Millions, Robber Of The Best Which Earth Can Give.

Not A Softness Anywhere About Me, Only Whalebone And Brocade.

Oh! To Be A Flower Nodding In The Sun, Bending, Then Upspringing As The Breezes Run.