autumn leaves

chris, jun, and barb....."welcome to the happy cable car!"here we are inside the gondola of happinessapproaching the top of mt. polgangmountain ranges as far as the eye can see....guardians of naturescaling the mountain with great determination (actually i was just getting into position for a photoshoot!!there you have it!we came upon a soju and rice wine party! they are a dime a dozen up in the mountains on the weekends!this is a golf coursethey obviously didn't put a kickass nature guardian like this over on the mountain with the golf coursea temple nestled amongst the trees on the side of the mountain"when death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

i want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

and therefore i look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and i look upon time as no more than an idea,
and i consider eternity as another possibility,

and i think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

when it's over, i want to say: all my life
i was a bride married to amazement.
i was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

when it is over, i don't want to wonder
if i have made of my life something particular, and real.
i don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

i don't want to end up simply having visited this world."

-mary oliver "when death comes"