Quiet Mourning

          for Leslie Scalapino

I keep gardenias 
By the Kwan Yin 
Though magnolia was her flower
On my steps where
In ordinary life
Last but once 
I saw her alive
We had tea and sweets
Stuffed with bean paste
Years gone 
Following pleasure 
Wherever it worked
We had tea again
And she by then
Only angel food
And determination
Would live still
But wildly
If she could