butterfly lands
on flower, pumps wings twice,
and sputters off.
Transitory [Haiku]
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Tag Archives: poem
“Who says my poems are poems” by Ryōkan [w/ Audio]
Who says my poems are poems?
They aren't poems at all.
Only when you understand my poems aren't poems
Can we talk poetry.
This translation by Sam Hamill in The Poetry of Zen (2004) Boston: Shambhala, p. 159
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Autumn Moon [Haiku]
a single branch,
leafless but bloom-laden,
against the Autumn moon.
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DAILY PHOTO: Hong Kong Airport
BOOK: “The Poetry of Zen” Ed. / Trans. Sam Hamill & J.P. Seaton
The Poetry of Zen by Sam HamillMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Shambhala
This poetry anthology consists of translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry that play in the Zen aesthetic. They are not Zen Buddhist poetry in the sense of being sutras or sutra-like expositions on Buddhist philosophy or theology (at least, not mostly.) And while there are many monks and Buddhist layperson poets represented, not all of those included were Buddhists. (In fact, there is even some verse from the Daodejing included, though Taoism is certainly philosophically related to Zen.)
About half the book is Chinese poetry, including pieces from Han Shan, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Wang Wei, Du Fu, and many other greats of Chinese poetry. (Note: my spellings of author names varies from those used in the book because Hamill and Seaton use Wade-Giles spellings.) The other half of the book consists of works by Japanese poets, including: Saigyo, Dogen, Basho, Ryokan, Buson, Issa, and others. The Japanese part includes a few haibun (prose poems interspersed with haiku,) adaptations of Chinese-style poems, as well as the various Japanese fixed form styles (i.e.. haiku, tanka, etc.)
The two translators, Sam Hamill and J.P. Seaton, initial the poems that each translated (some were dually translated and others singularly.) I enjoyed the translations and felt they were fine reading in their own right. With haiku and tanka, the translators stuck fairly close to the traditional form (in as much as the aesthetic could be maintained doing so,) but with Chinese lyric styles they often took a freer approach to form.
If you’re interested in poetry that conveys Zen sentiment, this book is worth investigating.
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“Indian River” by Wallace Stevens [w/ Audio]
The trade-wind jingles the rings in the nets around the racks
by the docks on Indian River.
It is the same jingle of the water among the roots under the
banks of the palmettoes,
It is the same jingle of the red-bird breasting the orange-trees
out of the cedars
Yet there is no spring in Florida, neither in boskage perdu, nor
on the nunnery beaches.
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DAILY PHOTO: Parade in Bangalore
“Aliens” by Amy Lowell [w/ Audio]
The chatter of little people
Breaks on my purpose
Like the water-drops which slowly wear the rocks to powder.
And while I laugh
My spirit crumbles at their teasing touch.
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“Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell” (1493) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]
Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell
Be once disclosed to us
The clamor for their loveliness
Would burst the Loneliness —
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Hermit Hut [Haiku]
a hermit-hut hides
on the cloud-enshrouded peak
two valleys away.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 