I don’t know how
long the prayer
flags were down
before
we noticed.
Kid spotted them first.
What’s up with our flags?
I checked the calendar
for inauspicious
days for Lung Ta
before heading out back to reconnoiter.
The cord
was broken
or cut
on both ends.
Left a little noose
or loop
around the Maple’s branch to the west.
Left the first flag
– a yellow one –
to the east.
The rest of it
yellow blue white red green jumbles from Nepal
was strewn all about
the scratchy branches of an invasive bush
and wrapped around
the gentle old evergreen’s trunk.
Beyond my ken to repair.
I gathered the whole mess up
and offered it, carefully, respectfully, deliberately, ceremoniously
to the fire pit
on the patio
to rest ‘til spring
when the smoke
can carry our prayers.