Grateful
I can leave this world
no longer see
the rhinoceros die
or hear the elephants cry

Sensei says
there is no birth
nor death --
we transform
into what I ask

If
there is rebirth
what 
will I be
with each step, I begin

Mommy 
takes me to see the "King and I"
a hundred Asian dancers on  stage
I am three years old
in the lobby, I twirl and dance

If my heart stops now
I will leave in a dancer's form
grateful to Mommy
for that first dream
a dream that became my life.

  Genie Nakano

Published:  International Tanka,
Tokyo, Japan
publisher: Aya Yuki