The moon sets; crows caw below frosty skies.
Boats, moored to maples -- lamps glow like cat eyes.
Cold Mountain Temple, outside Gusu's bounds:
The midnight bell cuts off soft water sounds.
“Night Mooring” by Zhang Ji [w/ Audio]
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Tag Archives: poem
Cold Lilies [Haiku]
“Daniel Boone” by Stephen Vincent Benét [w/ Audio]
When Daniel Boone goes by, at night,
The phantom deer arise
And all is lost, wild America
Is burning in their eyes.
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Riderless [Senryū]
riderless horses
race across the pasture:
finish line unknown
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Hawkweed [Haiku]
Hawkweed blooms
beside a creek that sparkles
with summer sunlight.
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“To Tirzah” by William Blake [w/ Audio]
Whate'er is Born of Mortal Birth
Must be consumed with the Earth
To rise from Generation free:
Then what have I to do with thee?
The Sexes sprung from Shame & Pride,
Blow'd in the morn; in evening died;
But Mercy chang'd Death to Sleep;
The Sexes rose to work & weep.
Thou, Mother of my Mortal part,
With cruelty didst mould my Heart,
And with false self-deceiving tears
Didst bind my Nostrils, Eyes, & Ears:
Didst close my Tongue in senseless clay,
And me to Mortal Life betray.
The Death of Jesus set me free:
Then what have I to do with thee?
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Trampled [Haiku]
beside the trail:
a trampled dandelion
springs back, slowly.
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Early Spring [Haiku]
lake shimmer;
Spring sneaks in early --
trees still bare.
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“Circular Portrait” by Ikkyū [w/ Audio]
The monk’s entire body is present
in this great circle.
Xutang’s true face and eye
emerge from it.
The blind singer’s love song delights
flowers for ten thousand springs.
Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider in Essential Zen (1994) HarperSanFrancisco.
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“Away with Funeral Music” by Robert Louis Stevenson [w/ Audio]
Away with funeral music -- set
The pipe to powerful lips --
The cup of life's for him that drinks
And not for him that sips.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 