DAILY PHOTO: Wat Samakixay Drum & Bell Tower
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Asian Weaver Ant [Lyric Poem]
There once was a wee Asian Weaver Ant
Who lived on a big banana tree plant.
When they cut down his tree, a problem arose,
Moving to a rubber tree would be too on-the-nose.
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Water Lily [Haiku]
“Song of the Open Road” (3 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]
You air that serves me with breath to speak!
You objects that call from diffusion my
meanings and give them shape!
You light that wraps me and all things in
delicate equable showers!
You paths worn in the irregular hollows by
the roadsides!
I believe you are latent with unseen
existences, you are so dear to me.
You flagg'd walks of the cities! you strong
curbs at the edges!
You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves!
you timber-lined sides! you distant ships!
You rows of houses! you window-pierc'd
façades! you roofs!
You porches and entrances! you copings and
iron guards!
You windows whose transparent shells
might expose so much!
You doors and ascending steps! you arches!
You gray stones of interminable pavements!
you trodden crossings!
From all that has touch'd you I believe you
have imparted to yourselves, and now
would impart the same secretly to me,
From the living and the dead you have
peopled your impassive surfaces, and the
spirits thereof would be evident and
amicable with me.
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BOOKS: “Shaolin: How to win without fighting” by Bernhard Moestl
Shaolin: How to win without fighting by Bernhard MoestlMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site
This is a self-help book that nominally draws on the philosophy of Shaolin Kung fu and its Chan Buddhist underpinnings, but – more broadly – employs quotes and examples from many, mostly Eastern, sources. For example, the ideas and stories of Miyamoto Musashi are perhaps as common as any source (Musashi was Japanese, not Chinese, and was not noted for being Buddhist. In his own words, he respected the gods and buddhas, but didn’t expect their help.)
The book offers a fine discussion of Eastern philosophic thought in action, particularly that which arose from warrior sources, but it isn’t particularly ground-breaking in any way. For those who like homework, the book does include many exercises to make the reading a more interactive experience.
I enjoyed reading this book well enough, but it didn’t distinguish itself and will soon fall into the mind-space of a fuzzy amalgamation of similar books I’ve read over the years.
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Lingerers [Haiku]
side-by-side trees:
one bloom-laden; one with
a few lingerers.
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DAILY PHOTO: Boats on the Mekong
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Fire, Short-lived [Haiku]
overcast dawn:
cloud edges burn... briefly,
then cool to gray.
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“Song of the Open Road” (2 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]
You road I enter upon and look around, I
believe you are not all that is here,
I believe that much unseen is also here.
Here the profound lesson of reception, nor
preference nor denial,
The black with his wooly head, the felon,
the diseas'd, the illiterate person, are not
denied;
The birth, the hasting after the physician,
the beggar's tramp, the drunkard's stagger,
the laughing party of mechanics,
The escaped youth, the rich person's
carriage, the fop, the eloping couple,
The early market-man, the hearse, the
moving of furniture into the town, the
return back from the town,
They pass, I also pass, any thing passes,
none can be interdicted,
None but are accepted, none but shall be
dear to me.
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Blue Sheep [Lyric Poem]
The Blue Sheep must be ever so sad:
For of all the colors in which its clad --
None is blue; there're shades of brown, black, and white,
But blue must be symbolic, if judged by sight.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 