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Thread: ARTS: Poetry

  1. #1

    ARTS: Poetry

    This is the poetry of pictures from my wife's beautiful flowers at the front porch last summer.
    Tai Shi
    sat lah
    Gassho

    Sent from my SM-T113 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-24-2021 at 02:33 AM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  2. #2
    Treeleaf Rohatsu, 2019

    My wife's flowers from the front
    Porch last summer linger
    Like pink and green imprints
    In my tired mind, reminding
    Me of everything I promised.

    A life together in a grass hut.
    Moments of joy or did I say
    Hope. Was it enough? Did
    I warn her about the weeds?
    She was no fool and married

    Me anyway. We managed. We
    Came together. She, the timeless
    Constant being holding it all,
    fashioning my fumblings
    Into this life. This life. This hut,

    Like that jar in Tennessee, contains
    A thousand doors. A thousand
    Tiny buddhas spring from her
    Tears, showering me
    With pink and green petals.

    Gassho,
    Kate

    Sat today/lah

    Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  3. #3
    Beautiful!

    Gassho
    Byōkan
    sat + lah
    展道 渺寛 Tendō Byōkan
    Please take my words with a big grain of salt. I know nothing. Wisdom is only found in our whole-hearted practice together.

  4. #4
    Thank you. I think I inadvertently received poetry transmission from Tai Shi.

    Gassho,
    Kate

    Sat.lah

    Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  5. #5
    Beauty in A Little Poetry.
    Taishi
    sat
    Beautiful Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  6. #6
    I intend to Collect all the poems in all the threads where I have written, that is the poems I have written and I will then publish them in my book PORTRAITS OF THEIR LIVES, along with such poems as I see fit in my own Word and Open Office files. The book will be dedicated to all my significant teachers from Bill Hotchkiss to Jundo Cohen (I would ask his permission to use his Dharma name or any name Jundo Cohen decides upon, as I too will use my Dharma name). So be it. I will also indicate my pen name Charles E Taylor. All money associated with by me, and with money I begin saving next month will be used to finance this project. The project may last up to three years as did my first book Winter from Spring; this, and the second book, Meditations on Gratitude will not be included. My book will be published by The Book Patch where I already have an account. I will edit and pick and chose as I see fit and any Dharma friend in this Zendo may comment once the poems have been collected, and full credit will be given to this Treeleaf Zendo, and therefor, the three homes I have now; My Dear Marjorie and Me, AA as called only 12 step program, and Treeleaf Zendo by name as Jundo sees fit will be mentioned. I open this proposal to Forum Comment. While I wait for Treeleaf comment, I ask that you appraise this Prospectus and any or all of my poems on the Treeleaf Forum. I WILL IN NO WAY COLLECT OR USE OTHERS' POEMS OR ANY WRITING IN ANY WAY ON THIS FORUM or anywhere, living, out of this our sphere, or in some way connected with Treeleaf. I hold sole copyright to my own poetry and such writing to be acceptable by Jundo Cohen so as not to break anonymity of anyone or indicate people except my own family, but no places breaking anyone's anonymity unless they give permission. The place I I call home are mine with my family mentioned. Marjorie, my father and my daughter already have dedications. Tai Shi (Charles E Taylor).
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 01-29-2020 at 02:00 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  7. #7
    Member Onka's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Rural Queensland, so-called Australia
    Hi Tai Shi
    I have shared at least one, maybe two poems on the Haiku page.
    I would prefer that they not be published in your book anonymously or otherwise.
    Thank you comrade.
    Gassho
    Anna
    stlah
    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  8. #8
    Oh, that is lovely to make a new collection, Tai Shi!

    Enjoy the process of bringing your work together!

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-

  9. #9
    Member Hoseki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    St. John's Newfoundland, Canada.
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    I intend to Collect all the poems in all the threads where I have written, that is the poems I have written and I will then publish them in my book PORTRAITS OF THEIR LIVES, along with such poems as I see fit in my own Word and Open Office files. The book will be dedicated to all my significant teachers from Bill Hotchkiss to Jundo Cohen (I would ask his permission to use his Dharma name or any name Jundo Cohen decides upon, as I too will use my Dharma name). So be it. I will also indicate my pen name Charles E Taylor. All money associated with by me, and with money I begin saving next month will be used to finance this project. The project may last up to three years as did my first book Winter from Spring; this, and the second book, Meditations on Gratitude will not be included. My book will be published by The Book Patch where I already have an account. I will edit and pick and chose as I see fit and any Dharma friend in this Zendo may comment once the poems have been collected, and full credit will be given to this Treeleaf Zendo, and therefor, the three homes I have now; My Dear Marjorie and Me, AA as called only 12 step program, and Treeleaf Zendo by name as Jundo sees fit will be mentioned. I open this proposal to Forum Comment. While I wait for Treeleaf comment, I ask that you appraise this Prospectus and any or all of my poems on the Treeleaf Forum. I WILL IN NO WAY COLLECT OR USE OTHERS' POEMS OR ANY WRITING IN ANY WAY ON THIS FORUM or anywhere, living, out of this our sphere, or in some way connected with Treeleaf. I hold sole copyright to my own poetry and such writing to be acceptable by Jundo Cohen so as not to break anonymity of anyone or indicate people except my own family, but no places breaking anyone's anonymity unless they give permission. The place I I call home are mine with my family mentioned. Marjorie, my father and my daughter already have dedications. Tai Shi (Charles E Taylor).
    Neat!

    Gassho
    Hoseki
    Sattoday

  10. #10
    Kate, I overlooked your beautiful poem, which, of course, I will not include in Portraits of Their Lives by Charles E Taylor, Tai Shi, Calm Poetry. Your poetry is stunning, sensitive, and heartfelt. Perhaps, or perhaps not? It would be nice for you to share more, and you, as with all poets/authors of fiction, poetry, prose, drama, and or essay and all personal writing belong only to the author, and as per International Copyright Law, the author simply by stating their name owns their work, and has sole responsibility for that work. In at least one place in these threads on Treeleaf Zendo, I request that written work follow guidelines of good taste, without defaming, or condemning another person, etc. That includes good taste in language. Kate. I too have read Wallace Stevens.
    Tai Shi
    Charles E Taylor
    Calm Poetry
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  11. #11
    Any member may add suggestions in this thread about legalities, exceptions, language, stipulations of law, substitutions, ownership of original writing, matters of good taste, concerns about Buddhism, or any religion, credit and/ or all creative guidelines in this thread. This is governed by our teacher Jundo Cohen, Roshi, and any priest, priest-in-training, member, or Lay member may comment here. You may add creative work of your own, perhaps in one of the other threads unless you wish to post here. unless the threads allow one to share one or just some excerpts/ and or poetry giving full credit to author/poet/ writer. It is suggested that these creative threads are primarily for members' writing, and all creative essay/ poetry/ fiction/ drama by the author is encouraged. Those who have started other threads may wish to create their own guidelines or consult with Jundo. Anyone, anywhere on this Treeleaf Zendo may comment here, and add creative work to this and or all creative threads unless so stipulated by the guidelines of that thread. Write away!!! Have fun, enjoy.

    Tai Shi
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 01-31-2020 at 01:09 AM. Reason: correction and expansion.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  12. #12
    Ah, Tai Shi

    I am so happy to know that you will be collecting your work for another book. Such an important endeavor that I await eagerly. Perhaps it will not take three years, but no matter. I'm inspired by your project.

    A little secret ( that will be out now forever.) I went to graduate school to become a fiction writer. I wrote some poetry then, too. But I was so shy about my work that I never published a single piece. It was not until I read your work on this forum that I suddenly felt inspired again, began writing again and sharing it with others, my friends here at Treeleaf. Your dedication to Jundo Cohen, therefore, is deeply moving since I myself understand the impact this wonderful Zendo can have on creativity.

    I look forward to hearing more about your project. And thank you for catching my allusion to Wallace Stevens. I'm sure he was a Buddhist without knowing it.

    Gassho,
    Kate / Hensho

    Sat today

    Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  13. #13
    Dear, dear Kate, it is not often that one encounters outside books the kindred spirit of another writer. I sense this in you, by your poem, by your compliment to me, by our shared knowledge of a great poet, a man who kept his work hidden from his colleagues for fear they would not understand. Dear Kate, an audience of two who understand, that is enough, for please remember Miss Emily, "I am a poet, are you a poet, too. Don't tell...they'd advertise you know..." Be not concerned, for no one here will "croak your name, the live long day, to an admiring bog." Your words like me are petals in the rose we pick in memory of our sister poet dear Sylvia. Kate, we have risen above such agony with words, with gentle keystrokes of our lives. Do share...
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  14. #14
    Ah, Tai Shi

    Today I sit with you and Wallace and Emily and Sylvia and Elizabeth and Walt and TS and Robert and Rita and Nikki and all the others. Today I sit in the center of the poem that we write together for everyone. For gratitude. For friendship. And the hope that stillness brings.

    Gassho,

    Kate / Hensho
    Sat

    Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  15. #15
    For Patty Brown

    Long, impossible
    Spring days smart,
    Days when other
    Children pushed Patty
    Brown, with words
    Because her red
    Hair, freckled skin,
    Like me anomaly
    Fifth grade Mckee
    Elementary, parents
    Divorced mother
    Lovingly gave girl lovingly
    New Brownie Camera
    My hands into fists,
    Words to hurt.
    Poets never alone,
    Pushed her
    Rested in hands
    Like my mom's
    Old Brownie camera
    Hers new, mom's
    Broken when I
    Pushed her
    Against hate
    Memory boy
    So fragile, Children
    Mob jered
    Were Different.
    They could see
    Emptiness form,
    Form emptiness,
    Both so alone.

    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-05-2020 at 09:48 AM. Reason: Total Revision
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  16. #16
    after reviewing Gary Snyder's famous book The Back Country, I have concluded this four part collection, ground breaking book about Zen Revelation, is not about sitting. truly, it is not about Zen at all. This book is about Gary Snyder.
    Do you think you can write poetry without including parts of yourself?

    I have not read The Back Country and am curious to take a look now as I love much of Gary Snyder's work.

    Gasho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-
    Last edited by Kokuu; 02-08-2020 at 01:26 PM.

  17. #17
    Thank you for your elaboration, Tai Shi!

    I think it could be said of Jack Kerouac also that his book The Dharma Bums was filled with just as much (if not more) being a bum than it does the dharma!

    The Back Country was published in 1967 and Snyder had been in Japan on and off since 1955, when he formally requested to become the student of Rinzai teacher Miura Isshu at Shokoku-ji in Kyoto and sat several sesshin. So his understanding of the precepts should have been pretty well established by then as he took Jukai and was given the dharma name Chofu, "Listen to the Wind". But The Back Country contains poems stretching back many years so I guess not all will be Zen influenced.

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  18. #18
    Member Onka's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Rural Queensland, so-called Australia
    Respectfully may I ask why this thread, as entertaining as it is is in this section of the forums?
    Gassho
    Onka
    st
    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Onka View Post
    Respectfully may I ask why this thread, as entertaining as it is is in this section of the forums?
    Gassho
    Onka
    st
    I have moved you'all to the funky art section.

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  20. #20
    Onka, Jundo, I respectfully agree; this thread IS about Poetry, and posting of Poetry!! About people who might not have a voice anywhere else even on this forum. I am going to delete my posts, which I thought might be interesting, and offer an apology to the people I care about most-- Folks who might not post anywhere else, and I ask Kokuu, who is like me in so many ways, who I care about deeply, to do the same. It's also about sitting, and talking about sitting which is what we are about in this our Sagha where we would not have a place anywhere else, where Jundo has made a home for us, where (most people) folks are welcome who say they can learn a different way, in poetry, or anything to become a part of something bigger than than themselves, a place where they can sit, and learn compassion even in and especially in all walks of life.
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  21. #21
    Thank you dear Kate, dear And Anna, dear Onka, and my friend Kokuu, and everyone who loves Buddhist poetry of all types, for everyone in our Sangha who makes poetry of sensitivity, of beauty, and of Shikantaza. Kokuu, do look elsewhere for a beautiful revision about you my friend, a truly heartfelt poem about our beauty as friends. Way, Way too much from me, If you can, think of some of these posts combined from me together, and my love of our Treeleaf Zendo.
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 02-10-2020 at 10:35 AM. Reason: love
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  22. #22
    Hi Kokuu and all; I find it most beautiful that Gary Snyder was given the name "Listen to the Wind" most beautiful for Gary Snyder's Dharma, and so beautiful that he was able to ""Listen to the Wind"" MOST beautiful as he spoke at a reading in Colorado while I was actually working on my thesis Autumn Inventories. I met him briefly as he walked out of the auditorium at U.N.C. and he knew my mentor, Dr Bill Hotchkiss, from Sierra College in Rocklin, California, the college where my father worked for 24 yeas as tenured faculty, and where I began my study of English Literature. Our meeting was about 30 seconds, and there is no reason he might remember me. May I suggest another Gary Snyder volume you might not own, and which I purchased in Denver about the time I graduated with my MFA, 1990, Left Out in the Rain, those poems as yet at that time randomly brought together and very good of course. I am certain that you, if you do not have this book, would enjoy it. I did go on after Sierra to finish my BA at Grinnell College, MA and EDS degrees at the University of Iowa, then taught composition, literature and creative writing at Central Community College; there I published my first poetry, and in 1985 left with Marjorie who continued her career with the government. I entered the MFA in 1986, and lost my TA in 1987 at which time I hit bottom and got sober with the 12 steps. The year between 1987 and 1988 I took a lighter load of one, then two classes at C.S.U. in my MFA program. I returned to part-time teaching at Front Range Community College, and full-time study in 1989, took my comprehensives, and in 1990 completed and defended my thesis. In 1991, I began full-time teaching in Illinois not far from Chicago. By that time my spirituality truly began and I read Zen Mind, Beginner Mind, and Peace is Every Step, but I was not sitting or meditating. In 1993/1994 Marjorie and I returned to teaching but we found living 90 miles from Chicago did not shield us from the daily murder or drug bust, and we were concerned that bringing up a 3-yr-old girl was not wise there, and besides in 1993 I failed to "get tenure, and we moved to South Dakota where we remained, and built our little home in Hartford, nine miles west of Sioux Falls. My wife has worked for the government more than 30 years and retired four years ago, and visited our daughter who lived four years in Japan, Chiba, and Date, Hokkaido. I taught part-time until 2001 at which time, because of my disabilities, I could no longer teach. I was never again "let go" from a teaching position. from 2006 to 2007 I taught developmental English part-time, temporary. My wife and I decided especially when I was 58 that I could no longer work even part time, and I retired permanently. I had worked part-time in clerk positions and been on disability since 2001, and it was just time to admit utter defeat. I had published more than 60 poems in little magazines and college journals, and in August 2009 I self-published my book Winter from Spring, in 2011, I nearly died three times, began to truly seek "something" in earnest, and about five years ago joined Treeleaf where one year latter Jundo allowed me to go through Jukau and I was given the Dharma name Tai Shi, calm poetry. About one year before coming to Treeleaf, I self-published another book, Meditations on Gratitude, and at one time both books were available through Barnes and Noble, and Amazon. I believe Meditations on Gratitude is still available. My time at Treeleaf, my friendships here, and my admiration of Doyu have all inspired me to self-publish again, one more book by 2023, and I've collected much of my work in one file already. Now I must edit, add and detract poems, and design a cover. My deadline seems "do able" because I must also save the money for publication.
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 02-11-2020 at 04:08 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  23. #23
    May I suggest another Gary Snyder volume you might not own, and which I purchased in Denver about the time I graduated with my MFA, 1990, Left Out in the Rain, those poems as yet at that time randomly brought together and very good of course
    Thank you Tai Shi! I have The Gary Snyder Reader which contains poems from a number of his works so will check out the ones from there and definitely think about getting the full volume.

    I hope you can make your deadline for the next volume of your writing.

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-

  24. #24
    Age of Compassion

    My sixteenth year
    Wrote dear first poems
    Still collected in
    Black volume written
    In 1968 incomplete
    Blue fountain
    Pen to childish
    Love blue, invisible
    Her father as heart
    Pounded in violation
    Precept entreating
    Safe love, without
    Guarded between
    Fingers touching
    I attended colleges
    Not sought in money
    Intoxicants gone
    Even for our own
    Life, relived anger
    Last promise
    Love, gave no
    Love for five years
    Strong drink, then
    January 7, 1980
    Young woman
    Teacher of right
    Speech, right behavior
    Talking on paper
    Walked in groups
    Together Rhetoric
    One Oh One teaching
    With Precepts Love
    Eternal compassion
    Pearl whose shining
    Eyes no one had seen
    Right behavior, drink
    Intoxicant teaching
    Lifted glory to my glory
    Eyes, I fell, lifted
    Finally readings, Zen
    Buddhism, rejoiced
    2018/2019/2020
    Final Precept place,
    Young woman
    I with her become old
    Original writing in black
    Volume, Love compassion
    Child conceived in marriage,
    Shokai corrects me, dignity
    I bowed Taishi, Oh Sangha
    Our Temple all our world beckons.
    Taishi
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-05-2020 at 09:19 AM. Reason: complete revision
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  25. #25
    I have purchased two volumes of poetry to Learn of Wind, my right speech, oh dear friend Kokuu, before your ordination, together after in Ango, still friends as we exchange our bodies as in Plato, not as lovers and our children fruit of Buddha vine, we cannot violate friendship with moving now stilled tongue, I've purchased two volumes of Gary Snyder, like Andy, stone face, Kokuu, we know loyalty because of you I've come to know The Wind.

    Sleeping in our house
    Which paid diamond like taxes
    Our compassion downed.

    For Kokuu
    my friend
    Taishi
    Gassho
    sat/lah
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  26. #26
    Thank you, Tai Shi!

    You write so well!

    Which volumes of Gary Snyder have you bought?


    speaking prayers
    into the night sky
    pilgrim moon


    Deep bows, my friend
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  27. #27
    I somehow missed this thread - such beautiful work. Tai Shi - I'm glad to hear you will be publishing more of your work,

    Gassho,

    Heiso

    StLah

  28. #28

    Poetry

    Seen bows to you all! Earthly universal thought is sought by all, and only a few friends outside Treeleaf Zendo know only a tiny part of my life so invested in these threads in my daily sitting Shikantaza lately as I have dealt with pain, and first medication that actually gave dome relief Remicade, then Cimzia, then Cosyntix, next now perhaps one that will last the duration, one only recently approved for my bone disease of Ankylosing Spondylitis Simponi, more than $4000 per shot, per four weeks. Now it remains to see if my insurance company will approve home use for medication injection sub q every four weeks, so more than $50,000 a year, and if not approved an infusion every six weeks at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. Now for my dearest poetry-- Kokuu, the two books of essays by Gary Snyder, Chofu, Listen to the Wind, The Practice of the Wild, with new preface by the author, then A Place in Space: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Watersheds. For me My Book changed from Portraits of Their Lives, a book I may complete as my fourth and final book for I am 68, and this book For Patty Brown... entirely and only my writing, no one in or out of this Sangha, Treeleaf Zendo will be included, and as I now edit the rough draft over and over, and over... the writing, and cover are mine. To answer your question Kokuu, the complaint of much contemporary and modern poetry by critics, and the public is that it is largely inaccessible, and the public cannot understand. In Snyder's, Chofu's, work there exists a mix, and I refer you to "The Bath" as for some public readers too personal, though accessible, so how should the poet proceed? The poem is such that Jundo would not allow it to be published here and from The Back Country, admittedly early work by the poet, "Rip Rap," of which any subculture member would recognize as substance abuse. So where does a poet draw the line? Does the poet write for the public or for the self? Does the poet include such incidence as suicide, mental illness, and death as are in my first book, in several libraries, and which made valiant showing of sales, or my second book which included mental illness, much physical pain, and suicide, both books in the Grinnell College Library, one of the finest colleges in the US, or the second book receiving high praise from Professor Emeritus Bill Tremblay, the founder of the MFA creative writing program at Colorado State University. Who is right? Those who would censure all personal writing, so where would we be without Eliot, Pound, Lowell, Plath, Ted Hughes, Richard Wright, the whole cannon of modernists, HD, Marian More, contemporizing like Rita Dove, Gallway Kinnell? And, Chofu, Gary Snyder. I venture to say the criticism of modern and contemporary writers is accurate, and much of what these writers give us is for the educated, the studied, and those willing to look, and look again. And call me an elitist, but the average American has never heard of Basho, or the 5, 7, 5 schemes of the Anglicized Haiku. No, most poetry is not of the light-hearted, Would you have British leave out Keats who writes poetry, "As natural as the leaves on the trees."? Or seeking "The Good, THE TRUE, and the Beautiful?" So where does any writing become non-personal, even especially Shakespeare, and Andrew Marvel, and I venture to say even Milton, Pope, and Dryden?

    Tai Shi
    calm poetry
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 03-09-2020 at 02:12 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  29. #29

    Poetry

    Thank goodness my biological medication fairly new on the market Simponi has been approved for home use at more money than I am given in one year by my wife. This biological related to Enbrel which I took successfully for more than 10 years and this may allow me lol to continue to write about my pain and arthritis ha ha. Lol I pick up my first dose at the hospital in the morning. Now to speak about more pressing matters Coronavirus which we as poets might consider writing about. Truly I believe in many ways poetry shows the state of humankind all human nature may be explored by the poet all good men and women. Consider Pablo Neruda and great poets writing all manner of topics and we as Buddhist poets must consider Compassion and Equanimity As each and all benefit from endeavor to control the spread of disease. Consider Denise Levertov great poets are not restricted in writing. I’ve decided to take a short break from writing to support friends an family as they deal with more pressing things.
    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 03-11-2020 at 08:36 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  30. #30
    The pharmacy is mailing my Simponi pen should be here in the morning then the less I leave the house for an AA meeting only.

    Keep distance
    Six feet or more
    Avoiding corona virus
    Never avoiding
    Those we love

    This year washing
    Washing I apply
    Lotion, clean smell
    Softens safety
    Make sure to wash
    Hands 20 seconds
    Always, 20 seconds
    Each time, then
    Touch only ones
    We live close
    Every time we
    Bump

    Elbows, shower
    Stay home
    So much
    Stay home watch
    Movies at home
    Popcorn and drinks
    Not alcohol that
    Used instead of wash
    Wash your hands
    Feel safe,

    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 03-17-2020 at 01:12 AM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  31. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    The pharmacy is mailing my Simponi pen should be here in the morning then the less I leave the house for an AA meeting only.

    Keep distance
    Six feet or more
    Avoiding corona virus
    Never avoiding
    Those we love

    This year washing
    Washing I apply
    Lotion, clean smell
    Softens safety
    Make sure to wash
    Hands 20 minutes
    Always 20 minutes
    Each time, then
    Touch only ones
    We love close
    Every time we
    Bump

    Elbows, shower
    Stay home
    So much
    Stay home watch
    Movies at home
    Popcorn and drinks
    Not alcohol that
    Used instead of wash
    Wash your hands
    Feel safe,

    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Lovely, Tai Shi.

    Mateus
    Sat/LAH

  32. #32
    Tai Shi

    That is lovely but you probably mean 20 seconds rather than 20 minutes or that is a long time at the sink!!!

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-

  33. #33
    Correction wash
    Hands 20 seconds
    Lovely smell, racy
    Times, wash 20
    Seconds, keep
    Hands away from face,
    Yes, yes, use
    Tissue or wash
    Hanky’s cloth
    Nose wipes
    Wash often, be
    Good to yourself
    If you can shower
    Or wash up,
    Stay clear
    And clean
    Stay in with family
    When you can
    We all reduce hospital
    Needs and we practice
    Good Buddhist cleanliness

    Tai
    Shi
    Calm
    Poetry
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Deep Bows



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  34. #34
    My book, For Patty Brown..., will be completed, I must admit, a bit delayed-- because of illness.

    Tai Shi
    Gassho
    sat/lah
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  35. #35
    If I Were Not Dying

    I sit often, just
    Sit, no recognition,
    My weeds gone from ancient
    Garden, flowers of delight
    Morning blossoms, Forget
    Me Not; sacrificed desire,
    With Sunday morning
    Auden's sorrow practiced
    Friday Human rights
    Making Easter gone
    Sequestered bodies, rooms
    Where we hide from death,
    Great harvest, scythe
    Striking each stem
    Spiral on flowers coughing
    Weeds, of Speech to blood,
    Lungs in prayer, to chant
    Messages lifting death
    Into open air, mouth devours
    Cross with red blossoms up,
    Finding air to restore
    Sacrifices of old, or young
    Recovery from smoke,
    Gardens crowded with wild
    Wheat burned-- bodies
    Into crematoriums
    Smoke wafting into air,
    Into our eyes once
    Beholding colors show
    Human hair, hands, feet
    Nailed black skin, their
    Eyes with remorseful tears
    Blue or hazel, black orbs
    White vision gone as blue
    Lilies morn above coffins
    Our chants rise up
    With incense to dispose
    Of Life, eternal these fumes,
    Becoming life everlasting
    Fewer people burned, rise again
    With beating heart above virus
    Corona pitted flowers bring
    Life; sprout again
    With oxygen our atmosphere
    Petrol gone. We must regain
    Vernal Equinox To taste and see,
    Worship love, present each
    Other as Mum
    Of Spirit-- another light
    Ancestral vision, seeing
    Through eyes-- prisons, colors
    Of flame into life, rainbows
    With any race welcomed
    No hate, all changed
    From poison to value
    Our Vegetation, Earth's plea
    Animal life finding our answers;
    Soil, rock-- Friends recovering
    With Compassion, Christ's
    Love in space,
    The Agape of our Bodhisattva
    We offer to our flowers
    A garden to Plant again
    No heaven or hell,
    Only open sky our mystery,
    Mountains where columbine divide.

    Tai Shi _/|\_
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 04-06-2020 at 03:04 PM. Reason: Spelling, editing.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  36. #36
    That is beautiful, Tai Shi!

  37. #37
    I loved it, Tai Shi. Thank you for your poetry.
    Gassho,
    Mateus
    Sat/LAH
    怠努 (Tai Do) - Lazy Effort
    (also known as Mateus )

    禅戒一如 (Zen Kai Ichi Nyo) - Zazen and the Precepts are One!

  38. #38
    Brief Recovery Essay
    Yes, I am an alcoholic. Tai Shi is my grateful Dharma name, given twice in Dharma call, For Sangha I believe daily I live each second at the moment. I have put together more than 32 years, 7 months with Precept against intoxicants. Recovery depends upon reaching out. I have been told I am old. Truth be told, you and I have years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, so I am told, "Live at the moment." Where did I receive such gift, shall I recite my affirmation, "Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and practice these principles in all of our affairs." These are words I only try to live and I live to the best of my ability, for love and tolerance is our code, with my rakusu, I chant Verse of Atonement which I shall call the 5th step, Four Vows which I shall call step 11 learning in Metta, steps 6, and 7 reflecting on my humility referring back to step 2, never giving up all shortcomings which I may never claim else experience slips away. Then Step One the bedrock recognizing my humanity, We were (are) who we are; our lives have become unmanageable, so we reach out. Shortcomings felt again in 8, and 9, then admitting 10 the only recognition of addiction, and my humanity, all is worked reaching out for the Wisdom, the Buddha, three, Christ-like, 3, the Sangha, and 10 attainment by giving up, asking forgiveness. All becomes Dharma teachings, scripture, Our Spiritual Awakening. Then we turn, "I take Refuge in the Buddha, I take Refuge in the Dharma, I take Refuge in the Sangha." Then learning of compassion, no anger, no fear, no greed, We come to that choice of Agape, walking in foot steps of each Master. Step 12, giving all away; we are like attainment, sitting Shikantaza for others. Those who find another way, we are nothing but sand, and we are Free. We review this list placing all from one to twelve to give it all away into nothingness.
    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    "
    My book shall take another turn.
    This Saturday evening we shall sit.
    _/|\_
    May the crowned knot of fire..."
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 04-06-2020 at 02:48 PM. Reason: Recognition of amends, HP, list. Surrender
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  39. #39
    Oh dear Kate, I've reread the entries in this our thread, all of us Kokuu, all our Sangha where I take refuge in a thousand jars upon Pine Mountain where I became as young man at age seven my father ran away. Mother gone more than two decades I have regained my father as he returned. This pandemic my mother did not live in Des Moines, Iowa, her return among corn and beans. My father calls our little home on Northern Plains, upon prairie; we venture into city, 10, 15, 20 miles (ca. 32 km) away. Dear Kokuu, dear Kate, when Tai Shi and Marjorie, pearl of South Dakota, found in ancient sea beds, will you remember us if pandemics strike us down, suffocate us, damage our bodies? Smashed upon millennial shore of Bodhisattva?
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 04-06-2020 at 02:41 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  40. #40
    For TaiShi, as we endure together

    How shall I not remember you, dear
    one, as you have called me, summoned
    me, bade me to speak, given me
    life from your words, your shikantaza
    breath?

    How shall I not know you as the warbler
    who visits the woods behind my house
    every fall, every spring, parsing a twig
    from a thicket, living the very suchness
    of life?

    How shall I not hear you as the call
    from my neighbor through my studio
    wall, with no one, not a single relative
    living but still enduring this life, with joy
    resolute?

    How shall I not remember you indeed, TaiShi.
    For you are every rain, a silken thread, both
    being and non being, an imprint indelible,
    all buddhas throughout space and time,
    this very hour.

    Gassho,
    Kate (Hensho)
    sat/lah
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  41. #41
    Kate, you give me freedom like a sea full of clouds, for me its not the surface, but the whole ocean like Dogen spoke of in Genjokoan and the depth of sea is more than sea, its the whole ocean this trout, an ocean trout knows how to swim into expanse, and divine calm, greater than god or is it simply God, it is what Christ was pointing to a wonder that those men and women at that Packing Plant crammed into working space killing hogs, piglets for hot dogs disguised me as killer, but forced to give their lives for meat, by the air of Covid 19. What's to become of this human race, so emerging from ocean of death which is not so bad except many had grandchildren, children, wives, husbands, families who ate that meat, depth of swine brought to our own promises as we all enter into water baptism Dogen knew of air into which geese flew infinitely into death as they ate fishes. We end no end Shikantaza, no time, less Earth, Less Space and Time, before I was there, now am there with Serenity Prayer. "God, grant me the serenity to except the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, wisdom to know the difference..." then, "Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next." This is the "SERENITY PRAYER" in its entirety. This is what I live for as Dogen knew, and that poet who I have studied all my life. It's not "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," name of furniture company in St. Louis. its more "Ash Wednesday." Turned out of a guyed grove as Yeats reached for without Christ, nor Sailing to Byzantium, A beauty to keep an old man from falling asleep in his leather easy chair, more furniture gift for his wife to give to him, so blessing cattle, finally blessing cattle knowing he will join those people after Covid 19 forever. All this fevered coughing blood soaked tubes to respirator gone into eternity because we are powerless over things we cannot change viruses, flu, Covid, even common cold, all from tiniest organisms known to science, born replicated in human lungs. Shall we leave that yellow mucus, sputum of creation as it propels into ocean life forever into eternity...
    Tai Shi
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  42. #42
    "We are powerless over alcohol, and our lives have become unmanageable." first in perfect surrender, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs." These twelve steps never working the eleven in perfection especially this 12th which is Buddha Nature for me, and 5th and 9th when I practice verse of atonement and this readiness in 2nd, 8th, 10th these making sure I make these poems each my inventory only to correct myself to Buddha nature, as I sit patiently looking neither left or right as I see my crooked spine leaning right then left, as I rise from seated cushion, shall I ever make Christ's perfection risen to take on death as Buddha lived life to be teacher of that surrender. So from 11th especially 3rd surrender into God's will giving all to others, in daily step work preparation for daily 12th giving that away, daily earning bread of salvation until body become nothing thy day to air, form is nothing, nothing is form in Shikantaza where I feel no pain, shall I "Enfold myself into the tongued knot of fire,"{Giving over my cremation into smoke, ash, and air, matter is energy. Mass is energy, found in dust attic of the mind, I shall die} as I sat in Shikantaza, I will take refuge in the Buddha, into Jesus Christ, into serenity...
    Tai Shi
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 04-20-2020 at 03:48 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  43. #43
    This thread is dedicated to the writers I live with, from TS Eliot to Kokuu, from Kate to Emily Dickinson to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, To EVERY poet in our Sangha, to all my friends who ever raised a pen or keyboard to write a few lines, or more, To Dyo an accomplished poet, to those who join the fellowship of writers though they may never show their work to a soul, part of a family of human beings who make the art of writing something beautiful, their preoccupation, their passion, or a passing fancy, or the work of a dedicated poet. You all are part of this sorority/fraternity. "Come on Without, Come on within, You've not seen nothing like the mighty Quin...when Quin the Eskimo gets here, everybody is going to jump for joy." Bob Dylan, so please, please, jot a few of your own lines here, let your writing flow, be delighted because there is a pandemic, let us NOT give up joy, please write something sad, or happy and write in the face of danger-- oh do not be afraid. Write!
    Tai Shi
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 05-01-2020 at 03:45 PM. Reason: correction
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  44. #44
    Hello all

    The UK poet laureate, Simon Armitage, writes of lockdown, weaving together older stories with the present moment...


    Lockdown

    And I couldn’t escape the waking dream
    of infected fleas

    in the warp and weft of soggy cloth
    by the tailor’s hearth

    in ye olde Eyam.
    Then couldn’t un-see

    the Boundary Stone,
    that cock-eyed dice with its six dark holes,

    thimbles brimming with vinegar wine
    purging the plagued coins.

    Which brought to mind the sorry story
    of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre,

    star-crossed lovers on either side
    of the quarantine line

    whose wordless courtship spanned the river
    till she came no longer.

    But slept again,and
    dreamt this time

    of the exiled yaksha sending word
    to his lost wife on a passing cloud,

    a cloud that followed an earthly map
    of camel trails and cattle tracks,

    streams like necklaces,
    fan-tailed peacocks, painted elephants

    embroidered bedspreads
    of meadows and hedges,

    bamboo forests and snow-hatted peaks,
    waterfalls, creeks,

    the hieroglyphs of wide-winged cranes
    and the glistening lotus flower after rain,

    the air
    hypnotically see-through, rare,

    the journey a ponderous one at times,
    long and slow but necessarily so.


    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  45. #45
    Weavers

    In times to come it will be proclaimed
    by skalds*

    The spring when we came together
    from being apart

    Watching the flowers grow
    outside of our windows

    And our children grow
    inside

    When we gathered the scraps of humanity
    to weave a blanket

    Wrapping it around the whole world
    to the moon and back

    Until we all fell asleep under its warmth
    and soft smell

    Of jasmine.


    *a skald is a medieval Norse poet and story teller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skald)


    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-
    Last edited by Kokuu; 05-17-2020 at 10:28 AM.

  46. #46
    Kokuu

    Thanks for sharing

    Doshin
    St

  47. #47

    Poetry

    Give all away
    Sorrow of death
    Marking human defeat
    More than 4 million infected
    Morning glories bloom
    Near path
    Of no remorse wail
    Of shrinking science
    Stay away with no sister
    Brother, all of humankind
    Sequester in hovel ask
    For food, clean water precious
    Divide my cloths among you
    Making mask of flannel shirt
    Requirement of ordination
    In ordinary robes, sacrament
    Of death surpassing hundreds
    Of thousands suffocate
    In own sputum and blood
    Who knew such defeat nature
    Rebounding with red death
    When
    Does nothing come to nothing
    As politicians through money
    At citizenry and knowing defeat
    Comes every day office
    Of President a farce,
    Some laugh grief away
    When solace comes in
    Sutra only prayer, in chant
    In song, to hope harmony
    Some will wail
    Some will take and leave
    Some will wonder
    Some will look deeply
    Some will grab, clutch
    Some will search
    Into earth like never before
    Like never before
    Like never.

    Tai Shi
    sat / lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 05-23-2020 at 02:09 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  48. #48
    Thank you for this beautiful expression, Tai Shi. I have been trying to write covid poems and can't. I'm glad you are. I'm glad to have read it as it brings a little solace over this lonely divide.

    I hope you are doing well.

    Gassho

    Kate / Hensho

    Satlah

    Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  49. #49

    Poetry

    Siste Kate. Did you know I never had a sister, and such a sister as you with depth and light giving hands as you write so well. Put your pen to paper, or fingers to electronic miracle which my father understands in whirling electrons. Oh, sister Kate we are united in poetry better birth in beauty like the poetry of a child the poem born in equanimity and compassion like pain of all birth. See, we face another, common peril the COVID 19 waiting to replicate itself in living tissue so you and I build edifice of time our poetry which will also disappear someday, like the virus. Nothing lasts forever but the concept of sister brother you and me. We are friends forever.
    Tai Shi
    sat / lah
    Thank you sister Kate
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  50. #50
    Poetry is an act of peace, bridge against shores of time take boat of bodies into Pacific all ending war in 1974; which 55-thousand died against time like pandemic of 2020 where more than 60-thousand, or 70-thousand as largest economy hides those thousands of deaths, so best not to whimper-- stand tall in chronic, arthritic pain relax brain into just sit, Justice will uncover allot fascist history hypocrisy into exploitation of bodies, driven into silence where one only sits in non-revelation apprehending this act of Peace to Read and Write I have committed teaching Peace.
    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

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