that even when the gods held sway
in ancient days
ever was water bound with red
such as here in Tatta's stream..
~ Hokusai, The Poem of Ariwara no Narihira
Inspired by a letter a friend had written yesterday, I went to the Morgan Library to sketch Hokusai's painting of the Amida Waterfall (ca. 1832) I've never seen before. (In that scene were friends having a picnic on a promontory overlooking the great cosmic Amida.) It could be I'm recreating that food scene with my picture here, to realize both the poem and the sharing of friendship of past natures by this great painter. Appropriately, I have the cold tea ready infused in ginger and tie guan yin leaves, with raw amber honey; and for the "cherry" on top, a fragrant pomegranate tea bag steeping through in the bottle and creating a two-toned juice "meeting of waters." Of mind. Of sounds fall. I laid out petit mochi cakes, cashew marzipans and crispy jacobina squares for us. And together, quoting another ancient poet I love, Li Po, "made the most of [cool summer]" in this real painting.
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