Alex Nodopaka is a visual artist and writer who has practiced both art forms since the 1950s in several languages. His visual art has been used on many occasions as an ekphrastic background for poetry.
3 Squeaks Soup
A choir of rats and mice
grind their teeth under the house
on heating and air conditioning plastic ducts
something Basho would not have known
unless they were served in Wor Wonton soup
~
It’s for the Birds and the Fleas
Birds and their fleas
are an everyday occurrence.
It’s for others to believe in their divinity.
Not for me.
As Basho would say,
A hand in the bush is better
than a bird in the hand.
Or as I would say,
better to have a roof of stars
than of dirt.
~
A Whiff of Russia
(for Matsuo Basho)
A sunny morning by myself
chewing
on a marinated herring.
On a clear day I can see Russia
from the end of the San Clemente Pier.
Something Basho couldn’t.
~
Beneath Snow Covered Mt. Fuji
Basho whispers to Li Po,
my unagi is shrinking and my
fish balls turn into carp eggs.