Night Blooming (Gekka Bijin)

Is that the moon, Papa?
My son asks me
When the moon is at its thinnest

Is that a smile, Dad?
I ask myself
When I think I see you smile

Your lips bloom
An inverted blossom of
Clear petals of paper thin ice
Then melt
As another smile vanishes
Before it can form

Was that that smile
I ask myself
That smile I haven't seen in decades?

Do you selfishly enjoy
A Gekka Bijin, Queen of the Night
Blooming in your cold perpetual night?
Do you think that it blooms for you alone?
And that my deprived eyes
Might make your mouth close shut for another long year
Should you let me see even your thinnest of smiles?

You should know that
Should you
My faith in you would restart
In an instant
Not unlike the self-winding watch I wore to bed
The one that wound itself down
Completely
During one long restful winter night's sleep
Till I awoke
To a time I did not know

There was a time your smile could have
Melted away the coldest of wars
Thawed even mastodon grudge
Buried deep in iceshelf of disharmony

I need to see that smile today, especially
On this cold, cold Tuesday
With news running dry
Time standing still
Ginkgo trees shitting on the ground like stray cats
And late fall faces
No matter how young
Looking old, gray and glum
And with most everyone not asking perplexing questions
Like, "Is that the moon?"