From Japan (One Day)

A bamboo forests grows so quickly
          we can see
the difference day by day. Our green
leafy friends stretch and brawl
their way to the top as we watch
          sipping tea
from our house across the road.

From Japan (Next Day)

I tried to watch the bamboo grow – 
I swear I had one sapling picked out.
          But the next day
while all the plants looked taller
          to my dismay
I couldn’t tell which one it was
that I’d been watching.

Karen Loeb , a professor emerita at UW-Eau Claire, has won awards in both prose and poetry and has been the City of Eau Claire’s Writer in Residence. Follow this link for more by Karen.