Friday, April 5, 2013
eighty thousand poems
I learned from Cuttlefish that this is US National Poetry Month. Coincidentally, I just came across a lovely poem (set aside the religion) by the garden designer Musō Soseki (1275-1351). It was recited in “Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden” on the Smithsonian Channel, which I also loved.
The sounds of the stream
splash out
the Buddha’s sermon
Don’t say
that the deepest meaning
comes only from one’s mouth
Day and night
eighty thousand poems
arise one after the other
and in fact
not a single word
has ever been spoken
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Do you remember
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember
We had so much fun
And peanut butter sandwiches
And licking my thumb
I wish you hadn't gone away
I wish you were still here
I do not understand
Why you are not near
Mummy said you left me
She said you went away
'Cause you didn't love me
Forever and a day
Buy, I don't believe her
She is telling me a lie
We are friends forever
'Till the day we die
One day I will find you
Where ever you are
And we will be together
Wishing on a star.
mine
R Davis.
For Ko Who Has Come Back From China
ReplyDeleteA brief meeting today
but it seems to gather up
a hundred years
We have exchanged
the compliments of the season
that's word-of-mouth Zen
Don't say that
your wisdom and my ignorance
belong to opposing worlds
Look: China and Japan
but there are not
two skies
-- Muso Soseki, translated by W.S. Merwin and Soiku Shigematsu