Synkroniciti is pleased to welcome back poet Michael J. LaFrancis of Connecticut with the opening poem of our “Recovery” issue, “Wabi Sabi,” an invitation to connect with nature and her power of renewal. Looking in wonder at the environment: “maple seeds wrapped in beige, like larvae in their cocoons, ready to give it a whirl, like helicopters,” Michael perceives meaning and beauty in the cycle of growth and decay: “leaves turn yellow, let go float, flutter, touch down, their karma to come.” We, like the world around us, are constantly renewed and reshaped until we shuffle off this mortal coil. Nothing here is permanent or perfect, and this makes everything we experience more dear. The imagery of the poem is sensory and active, grounding the abstraction of the concept of wabi sabi, a Zen idea that evades translation but implies melancholy beauty in brokenness, simplicity, and poverty. Michael’s sense of wonder and gratitude pervades the poem and provides a wonderful lens to experience the issue.
Read “Wabi Sabi” in Synkroniciti’s “Recovery” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Michael J. LaFrancis is an author, advocate, advisor and connector. Writing poetry is a contemplative practice providing him with insight and inspiration for living a creative life. His poems appear recently in Amethyst Review, Avalon Literary Review, City Key, Friday Night Library, Mocking Owl, Northeast Coast, One Art, Last Leaves, Seraphic Review, Synkroniciti, and Orenaug Mountain.
He and his partner, Sharon, have two sons and were recently promoted to Nani and Popi for their two granddaughters. Michael and Sharon recently published their autobiography: Our Wonderful Life. They live in Windsor, CT.