ARTS: Ango/Jukai Poetry 2020

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Onka

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-

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-

What a great idea, thank you for starting this Rob, I'll enjoy reading.
Gassho
Meitou
Sattoday lah

Lovely poem, Rob!

It reminds me of something Shunryu Suzuki said:

Quote:

---

“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-

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kokuu

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

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-

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobD

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobD

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

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-

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kokuu

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

A little Haiku for all:

Towards the wall I sit;
No sitting, no wall, no me--
Ango once again.

Gassho,
Randy Ashburn

Sattoday

Deep bows all for these profound moments gassho1

Gassho, Chris satlah

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ashburn

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

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/)


Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kokuu

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/)


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

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-

Rob that is beautiful

Gassho

Risho
-stlah

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobD

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

Beautiful, Rob! I especially love these last lines:

Quote:

---

Such a pristine stillness
Only clouds
Brushing past the moon

---

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

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-

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-

So much here!
I dip my eyes and drink
the nothing up.

gassho shonin satlah

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shōnin Risa Bear

So much here!
I dip my eyes and drink
the nothing up.

gassho shonin satlah

---

Beautiful!

gassho2


Gassho,
Rob

-stlah-

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

Thank you Rob. Wonderful [emoji120]
Gassho, Chris satlah

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobD

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

Lovely, Rob! gassho2

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

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-

I thought it was lovely too and very timely.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah