https://www.therialtoreport.com/2020/04/19/claire-wilbur/
Excerpt
Maneki Neko: The Japanese Legend of the Beckoning Cat
Rendered in Verse by Claire Wilbur
So much of life is a mystery,
Just a heartbeat away from tragedy;
But then, we find a good luck charm,
That seems to keep us safe from harm.
Who can explain? Oh, who can tell why?
Who can affirm or who can deny
The power of the talisman
That works again . . . again . . . again.
Was there a moment back in time,
A magic instant — rare, sublime —
When from that void, that great unknown,
Sprang an enchanted force full-blown?
If such a moment could exist,
When the plight of man by fate was kissed,
Then there was one in that shadowed yore
Of history, legend, apocryphal lore,
When a sweet small cat faced uncertain fate,
When all hope seemed to evaporate;
The temple where this poor cat dwelled,
By poverty had been sorely felled.