View Full Version : ARTS: Ango/Jukai Poetry 2020
Seikan
09-18-2020, 01:18 PM
Hello Everyone,
The poetry subforum has been a bit quiet as of late, yet there has been some other poetry activity elsewhere in the forum. I can also tell from digging through older threads that there are quite few lurking poets around here. :)
While I originally didn't plan on doing any special writing during Ango, I've quickly found that this period of intensive practice/study has inspired me to try and express some of my thoughts and experiences in verse. I can't help but think that others here may be doing the same.
Therefore, I figured that I'd go out on a limb and start a new, thematic thread where we can all share our poetic musings that have been directly inspired by (or simply the indirect result of) our Ango practice and/or Jukai study. No judging or critiques—just open sharing and appreciation.
If I may, I'd like to start by sharing a short, simple piece that was inspired by my additional bowing practice along with the recent Jukai readings on taking refuge.
---
First Steps
Namu Kie Butsu
One and the same, I bow to Buddha
One and the same, Buddha bows to me
One and the same, bowing bows
Namu Kie Butsu
---
Please feel free to share some of your own work inspired by this intensive practice period. :encouragement: I can't wait to read more of everyone's work here!
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
(P.S. I strongly recommend reading all poetry in these forums using a standard web browser. The mobile app tends to ignore deliberate line/stanza spacing, which may affect the readability of a particular poem).
gassho2
Miss Red
The message
Reacted
Redacted
Myself
From
Miss Red
Communication
Again
Again
Again
Miss Red
Is not the problem
Me?
React
Redact
Again
But why
Must do better?
Be better?
Words without action
Again
Again
Again.
Sorry.
Gassho
Onka
Sat today
Seikan
09-19-2020, 03:38 AM
Miss Red
The message
Reacted
Redacted
Myself
From
Miss Red
Communication
Again
Again
Again
Miss Red
Is not the problem
Me?
React
Redact
Again
But why
Must do better?
Be better?
Words without action
Again
Again
Again.
Sorry.
Gassho
Onka
Sat today
Wonderful poem Onka! I really like the rhythm and tension in this. And I love your creative use the phrase "Miss Red". Very cool. :)
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Seikan
09-24-2020, 05:28 PM
Here's an older piece that I've been re-working since Ango started:
How to Care for Thoughts
Fret over their every whim and whimper
And you'll never get any rest
Simply put them out to pasture
Give them more room than they need
Keep one eye gently upon them
Let them run wild and free
Soon they'll be exhausted
And the field empty once more
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Meitou
09-24-2020, 07:05 PM
What a great idea, thank you for starting this Rob, I'll enjoy reading.
Gassho
Meitou
Sattoday lah
Kokuu
09-24-2020, 07:25 PM
Lovely poem, Rob!
It reminds me of something Shunryu Suzuki said:
“Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him."
-- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Seikan
09-24-2020, 08:26 PM
Lovely poem, Rob!
It reminds me of something Shunryu Suzuki said:
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-Thanks Kokuu! I've read "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" so many times that I'd be lying if I said that that passage didn't influence me in some way. [emoji6]
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Seikan
09-30-2020, 04:10 AM
As I'm still sewing, this piece is a work in progress, but I wanted to share it as it currently stands as I think it may reflect what some others are also experiencing right now.
Rakusu
A glacial evolution
Carving the new
Out of the old
All senses engaged
Prick of the needle
Taste of the thread
Measure, mark, measure
And cut
No turning back
Everywhere I turn
Fabric inexhaustible
I work it nonetheless
Progress of no-progress
On a collision course
With myself
Mirror of cotton
Reflects no light
Only the mind
Each stitch
A breath captured
Preserved, recorded
Cho meets Tan
Gaze meets wall
No difference
Inside and outside
Worlds collide
One stitch at a time
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Washin
09-30-2020, 04:40 AM
As I'm still sewing, this piece is a work in progress, but I wanted to share it as it currently stands as I think it may reflect what some others are also experiencing right now.
Rakusu
A glacial evolution
Carving the new
Out of the old
All senses engaged
Prick of the needle
Taste of the thread
Measure, mark, measure
And cut
No turning back
Everywhere I turn
Fabric inexhaustible
I work it nonetheless
Progress of no-progress
On a collision course
With myself
Mirror of cotton
Reflects no light
Only the mind
Each stitch
A breath captured
Preserved, recorded
Cho meets Tan
Gaze meets wall
No difference
Inside and outside
Worlds collide
One stitch at a time
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
gassho1
As I'm still sewing, this piece is a work in progress, but I wanted to share it as it currently stands as I think it may reflect what some others are also experiencing right now.
Rakusu
A glacial evolution
Carving the new
Out of the old
All senses engaged
Prick of the needle
Taste of the thread
Measure, mark, measure
And cut
No turning back
Everywhere I turn
Fabric inexhaustible
I work it nonetheless
Progress of no-progress
On a collision course
With myself
Mirror of cotton
Reflects no light
Only the mind
Each stitch
A breath captured
Preserved, recorded
Cho meets Tan
Gaze meets wall
No difference
Inside and outside
Worlds collide
One stitch at a time
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
[emoji1374] I see myself in those words. Bowing to you my dear friend [emoji3526]
[emoji1374] SatToday lah
Kokuu
09-30-2020, 05:55 PM
That is beautiful, Rob! A lovely expression of the process of sewing and practice.
Just a wee tanka:
this rushing wind
with nowhere to go
I pour another
bowl of tea
and listen to the rain
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Seikan
09-30-2020, 06:22 PM
That is beautiful, Rob! A lovely expression of the process of sewing and practice.
Just a wee tanka:
this rushing wind
with nowhere to go
I pour another
bowl of tea
and listen to the rain
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-Thank you Kokuu. And your beautiful tanka is quite timely as we had rain and gusty winds this morning during breakfast. If I didn't know better, I'd think you lived just down the street. ;)
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Ashburn
09-30-2020, 09:49 PM
A little Haiku for all:
Towards the wall I sit;
No sitting, no wall, no me--
Ango once again.
Gassho,
Randy Ashburn
Sattoday
Yokai
10-01-2020, 01:12 AM
Deep bows all for these profound moments gassho1
Gassho, Chris satlah
Seikan
10-02-2020, 06:32 PM
A little Haiku for all:
Towards the wall I sit;
No sitting, no wall, no me--
Ango once again.
Gassho,
Randy Ashburn
Sattoday
Very nice Randy! Please do share more if you feel moved to.
Gassho,
Rob
Kokuu
10-02-2020, 07:47 PM
Hi all
This is a small haibun which has just been published and was written in memory of a haiku writing friend in Texas who died last fall.
Autumnal
(for Jan Benson 1952-2019)
She was sick but that is true for so many of my friends. Admittedly, the diagnoses sounded more final than chronic, but her energy for life continued to be so strong.
One day she told me she had no more pictures of crows to send.
I didn’t know that was her way of saying she was dying.
grandmother moon
the resilience
of violets
(Drifting Sands, Issue 3, September 2010: vhttps://drifting-sands-haibun.org/09/2020/autumnal/ (https://drifting-sands-haibun.org/09/2020/autumnal/))
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Seikan
10-02-2020, 09:00 PM
Hi all
This is a small haibun which has just been published and was written in memory of a haiku writing friend in Texas who died last fall.
Autumnal
(for Jan Benson 1952-2019)
She was sick but that is true for so many of my friends. Admittedly, the diagnoses sounded more final than chronic, but her energy for life continued to be so strong.
One day she told me she had no more pictures of crows to send.
I didn’t know that was her way of saying she was dying.
grandmother moon
the resilience
of violets
(Drifting Sands, Issue 3, September 2010: vhttps://drifting-sands-haibun.org/09/2020/autumnal/ (https://drifting-sands-haibun.org/09/2020/autumnal/))
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-Kokuu,
That is truly a beautiful tribute to your friend. What a wonderful way to remember her. Gassho2
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Seikan
10-06-2020, 07:44 PM
Sleep Waking
The house fast asleep, I drift out of bed
Lured by the cool midnight breeze
That lusty siren at my window
The neighborhood sleeps as well, sedated
By the anesthetic breath of Autumn
Not a sleepwalker in sight
Most nights the cricket symphony plays on
Keeping the darkness alive
But there is no performance tonight
An odd quiet hangs upon the hour
My ears plunge deep into the silence
Only to return empty-handed
Wrapped snug in the crisp night air
I give my thoughts up to the night
Where they dissolve on contact
Such a pristine stillness
Only clouds
Brushing past the moon
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Risho
10-08-2020, 01:22 AM
Rob that is beautiful
Gassho
Risho
-stlah
Sleep Waking
The house fast asleep, I drift out of bed
Lured by the cool midnight breeze
That lusty siren at my window
The neighborhood sleeps as well, sedated
By the anesthetic breath of Autumn
Not a sleepwalker in sight
Most nights the cricket symphony plays on
Keeping the darkness alive
But there is no performance tonight
An odd quiet hangs upon the hour
My ears plunge deep into the silence
Only to return empty-handed
Wrapped snug in the crisp night air
I give my thoughts up to the night
Where they dissolve on contact
Such a pristine stillness
Only clouds
Brushing past the moon
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
“Wrapped snug in the crisp night air
I give my thoughts up to the night..”
Loved that! [emoji3590]
[emoji1374] SatToday
Kokuu
10-08-2020, 11:31 AM
Beautiful, Rob! I especially love these last lines:
Such a pristine stillness
Only clouds
Brushing past the moon
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Seikan
10-09-2020, 06:32 PM
Risho, Jake, Kokuu,
Thank you all very much for your kind words. I'm glad that my work resonates with you. gassho2
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Seikan
10-22-2020, 09:12 PM
As the Dust Rains Down
Every bow
A return to center
Hands in gassho
Head tipped in quiet surrender
To what simply is
Time slows to a crawl
The moment resolves into focus
All things hang in balance
The relative and the absolute
Dancing together in perfect step
Infinity has no home
But for itself
No edges to be found
The center lies everywhere
It can never be lost
It can only be found
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Shōnin Risa Bear
10-22-2020, 09:51 PM
So much here!
I dip my eyes and drink
the nothing up.
gassho shonin satlah
Seikan
10-23-2020, 03:15 AM
So much here!
I dip my eyes and drink
the nothing up.
gassho shonin satlah
Beautiful!
gassho2
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah-
Seikan
10-31-2020, 04:34 AM
Been working on this one lately, and Jundo's timely Dharma talk during tonight's Zazenkai inspired me to try and finish it.
Bonds of Silence
We talk too much
The more we speak
The more we disagree
Words encircle us
Lines drawn in the sand
Inside versus outside
We would do better
Sitting in silence
Beyond this labyrinth of words
For in that moment
Without a single syllable
All is made clear
The smallest gesture
A subtle bow, a smile
Unites us in eternity
We need only listen
To the gentle wisdom
Of the softly falling snow
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah
Yokai
10-31-2020, 07:37 AM
Thank you Rob. Wonderful [emoji120]
Gassho, Chris satlah
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Eikyo
10-31-2020, 09:15 PM
Been working on this one lately, and Jundo's timely Dharma talk during tonight's Zazenkai inspired me to try and finish it.
Bonds of Silence
We talk too much
The more we speak
The more we disagree
Words encircle us
Lines drawn in the sand
Inside versus outside
We would do better
Sitting in silence
Beyond this labyrinth of words
For in that moment
Without a single syllable
All is made clear
The smallest gesture
A subtle bow, a smile
Unites us in eternity
We need only listen
To the gentle wisdom
Of the softly falling snow
Gassho,
Rob
-stlah
Beautiful!! gassho2
Gassho,
Dee
Sat / Lah
Kokuu
10-31-2020, 11:41 PM
Lovely, Rob! gassho2
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Seikan
11-02-2020, 05:46 AM
Chris, Dee, Kokuu,
Thank you all for your kind words. I'm so glad that the poem resonated with each of you in some way. gassho2
Deep bows,
Rob
-stlah-
Heiso
11-05-2020, 12:05 PM
I thought it was lovely too and very timely.
Gassho,
Heiso
StLah
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.