blooms disheveled
by yesterday's storms,
shine brightly today.
Sunny Day [Haiku]
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Category Archives: poem
“Abstract” [Poetry Style #22] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]
Lonely and longing to travel;
All alone and lacking a tribe.
Like the crane up on the mountain,
Or the cloud that enshrouds its peak.
Like the portraits painted by past
Masters, of souls you couldn't have known.
Like a leaf drifting on swift winds,
Bounding through the boundless spaces.
You'll never be able to hold it,
But can hear the song it dances to,
Those who accept this can tune in,
And the signal will only get stronger.
NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a translation of the twenty-second of the twenty-four poems. This poem has been alternately titled “Abstraction,” “Elegance,” and “Drifting Aloof” by varied translators, but its original title is 飘逸.
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Dogfight [Haiku]
swallows dogfight
out over the lake:
belly-bumping swells.
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Mountain Springtime [Haiku]
Introduction to Spellcasting [Lyric Poem]
We cast our spells by way of words --
Each sound, sacred. Its magic blurred
By mundane ways and untrained ears --
Failure to feel one's way to tears.
So, we're lost upon silent seas
Even when one could hear with ease:
Because boundless is speech's spread,
And boundless, still, within one's head.
Some seek their way to the magic
By means that are truly tragic,
When all they really need to do
Is listen as it passes through.
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“Gitanjali 7” by Rabindranath Tagore [w/ Audio]
My song has put off her adornments.
She has no pride of dress and decoration.
Ornaments would mar our union;
they would come between thee and me;
their jingling would drown thy whispers.
My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight.
O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet.
Only let me make my life simple and straight,
like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music.
NOTE: This poem is sometimes titled, “My song has put off her adornments,” or – simply – Song VII.
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Green Hills [Haiku]
the hills are greening,
after days of endless rain;
the landscape, edgeless.
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Grazers [Senryū]
the herd grazes
as Spring rains start to fall;
none looks up.
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Huge but Hiding [Haiku]
beyond the city,
a massive mountain looms,
pretending to be clouds.
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“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost [w/ Audio]
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 