poetry thursday
Poem Without a Category
Trailing my stick I go down to the garden edge,
call to a monk to go out the pine gate.
A cup of tea with my mother,
looking at each other, enjoying our tea together.
In the deep lanes, few people in sight;
the dog barks when anyone comes or goes.
Fall floods have washed away the planks of the bridge;
shouldering our sandals, we wade the narrow stream.
By the roadside, a small pavilion
where there used to be a little hill:
it helps out our hermit mood;
country poems pile one sheet on another.
I dabble at the flow, delighted by the shallowness of the stream,
gaze at the flagging, admiring how firm the stones are.
The point in life it to know what's enough—
why envy those otherworld immortals?
With the happiness held in one inch-square heart
you can fill the whole space between heaven and earth.
Gensei (1623-1668), translated by Burton Watson
(from the book The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry edited by Stephen Mitchell)
I have been reading the poem Revolutionary Dreams by Nikki Giovanni over and over for the last few months (it is from the book The Women and The Men). And as I read it, I wished I could hear Ms. Giovanni read it out loud to the world. I decided to see if she has a website, and she does. If you click over to it and then go down to multimedia, you can hear her read a few of her poems. You too can attend a poetry reading from your own bed, still in your pajamas, with your laptop on your lap.
Happy Thursday everyone!
If you have shared a poem on your blog today, please leave a comment so people can find your blog. (And if you want to be added to the list of regular participants, please email me.) Thank you for sharing poetry...
Blessings to you all.
poetry
Reader Comments (20)
i love the last 2 lines especially..and i love this book (and everything else by stephen mitchell)...plus this sounds like something written by YOU.
I like the poem you posted today, Liz!
I posted a Bad Haiku on my blog for PT.
great poem and those last 2 lines really send it home. i'm a nikki giovanni fan myself and have one of her collections. now she is one woman who's led an amazing life.
Thank you for putting me in touch with a person who has peotry running through her veins!
I posted a simple poem, words of passion caught in a crystal!
That was wonderful. I've just posted my Poetry Thursday contribution.
I like this poem and love the title of the book!
I've posted my poem, too.
I have posted a short poem by one of my favorite poets Edna St. Vincent Millay...check it out!
Can't wait to discover Nikki Giovanni ... I took a shot at this this week. I love all there is to read Poetry Thursday!
"The point in life is to know what's enough..." - I love this line...how true! And thank you for introducing Nikki Giovanni. I will definitely check out her site.
I am still reeling in the afterglow of your experience at Artfest. Thank you so much for sharing your experience of this with us all...I am living vicariously through you:)
Love to you,
Tara Dawn
PS - Have you received the email I sent a couple days ago? Just want to make sure it went through correctly.
I'm all about envying those otherworldly immortals, lately, so thanks for the reminder. Really beautiful poem. Thank you. :)
just lovely, liz. thanks for sharing gensei and giovanni, both!
my poem is posted. i am now ready to hear about the rest of your artfest experience! :)
thank you. That was really lovely.
Thanks for elevating my day with the link to Nikki Giovanni's site.
like michelle, it was the last two lines
of that poem that
"got" me also...
very interesting...
and thanks for the link to the poetry,
i'm definately going to check into it.
off to post my poem
:)
I would most certainly not have come across that link on my own. Thanks, it's very cool.
Thanks for this one. I posted some Ralph Waldo Emerson on my blog tonight.
I love the vivid images the poem brings to mind. And the thought of attending a poetry reading in jammies makes me smile! :)
My poem is up!! I was going to post one that someone else wrote, but all the poems I find that I like are LONG..
I have posted poetry. And I like the echo of the tea and the talking in the long post above the poem about tea and love and happiness.
A cup of tea with my mother, looking at each other, enjoying our tea together.
Just beautiful.
I posted one of my favorite Rumi poems yesterday.
I couldn't be any later if I tried. Just stumbled over you yesterday...
http://ascenderrisesabove.blogspot.com/2006/04/poetry-thursday-world-apart-no-more.html