what i've been reading . . .

"The way that mythologies work their magic is through symbols. The symbol works as an automatic button that releases energy and channels it." --Joseph Campbell in Pathways to Bliss, Mythology and Personal Transformation

sitting

a pine cone
sitting on its shadow
winter zazen

gnarled

ocean wave and rock bluff
the pine
gnarled to perfection

touching the sun

touching the sun
in the stone
butterfly feet

preeninge

preening drake
the hen pretends
not to notice

chrysalis husk

a gentle breeze
trembles the milkweed
chrysalis husk

her name

her name
written in frost
the silence of snow

osprey

the shape of wind
in its branches
silent osprey

falling

falling
from the sun --
osprey's cry

"Minos may control the land and sea," said Daedalus, "but not the regions of the air. I will try that way." So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself and his young son Icarus. He wrought feathers together, beginning with the smallest and adding larger, so as to form an increasing surface. The larger ones he secured with thread and the smaller with wax, and gave the whole a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird.

Icarus, the boy, stood and looked on, sometimes running to gather up the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then handling the wax and working it over with his fingers, by his play impeding his father in his labours. When at last the work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upward, and hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son in the same manner and taught him how to fly, as a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air. When all was prepared for flight he said, "Icarus, my son, I charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe."

While he gave him these instructions and fitted the wings to his shoulders, the face of the father was wet with tears, and his hands trembled. He kissed the boy, not knowing that it was for the last time. Then rising on his wings, he flew off, encouraging him to follow, and looked back from his own flight to see how his son managed his wings.

As they flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the shepherd leaned on his staff and watched them, astonished at the sight, and thinking they were gods who could thus cleave the air.

They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the right, when the boy, exulting in his career, began to leave the guidance of his companion and soar upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the blazing sun softened the wax which held the feathers together, and they came off. He fluttered with his arms, but no feathers remained to hold the air.

While his mouth uttered cries to his father it was submerged in the blue waters of the sea which thenceforth was called by his name. His father cried, "Icarus, Icarus, where are you?" At last he saw the feathers floating on the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he buried the body and called the land Icaria in memory of his child."

from: http://thanasis.com/icarus.htm

and a link to osprey symbolism here: http://www.wildspeak.com/vilturj/totems/wosprey.html

what i've been reading . . .

from www.slowmovement.com:

“Mindfulness is a certain way of paying attention that is healing, that is restorative, that is reminding you of who you actually are so that you don’t wind up getting entrained into being a human doing rather than a human being.” --Jon Kabat-Zinn

touching

touching
night ocean
night sky

shoreline

winter shoreline
the weight
of my shadow

artichoke season

how have i missed this blog by susan antolin? awesome work here, don't know how it slipped past me . . .

checking

checking to see
if the rose buds have bloomed
this tiniest of bees

don't

"don't"
she says--
winter moon

no matter

no matter
where the gull lands
its shadow too

not knowing

not knowing
what caused these ripples
still pond

where

where the sprinklers
don't reach
cactus in bloom

what

what do i do now?
the storm
spinning the weathervane

feeling

feeling the storm
before it arrives --
crazy old windchimes

moon shadows

moon shadows
autumn in the creak
of the rusty gate

spring cleaning

spring cleaning
the house spider
starts from scratch

break

break in the rain
snail
hitting full stride

new link

new link:

haijinx

casting

casting until the bobber
is just so . . .
mouth of the moon

crisp

crisp stars
the weight of the minnow
before the hook

what i've been reading . . .

Journey into original wisdom
Male Arrogance vs Female Arrogance
Poetry by Sharon Olds

jeans

jeans made beautiful
by the perfection
of her ass
wondering why i'm always
one step behind

what i've been reading . . .

"Rasa" as Aesthetic Experience
Shamrock Haiku Journal

shush

the shush of a wave
and her prints are gone --
evening's sudden chill

what i've been reading . . .

shijing
Shinto Thought and Practice
Aesthetics of Japanese Music
Aesthetics in Japanese Arts

what i've been reading . . .

"aesthetics is described as the voicing of one’s experience with Kami. It was assumed that there was a strong correlation between “scene” and “emotional response,” and the great artist achieves a unity of the two." click on text to view full article 'The Shinto Worldview"

the homeless man

the homeless man
cocks his head
gullspeak

how closely

how closely
they huddle together
midnight stars

what i've been listening to . . .

Dick Sutphen's Metaphysical World (he interviewed Richard Bach not that long ago)

night ocean

night ocean
all the gulls
i cannot see

help

is there a word in japanese that comes close to the Indian (aesthetic) word 'rasa' ? especially in it's relationship to poetry and haiku?

what i've been reading . . .

article about Paul Reps in Frogpond archive
article about Paul Reps in Aha
zen poems

low tide

low tide
the sandpiper's shadow
stirring the silt

what i've been reading . . .

an article in frogpond archives
wikipedia entry on kotodama
delight of senses

bullfrog

a bullfrog blinks
slow ripples
in my stillness

what i've been reading . . .

Rasa -- The Key Concept of Classical Indian Aesthetics
The Theory of Rasa
Seretta Martin's Love Rain Dog
Naia's Poetry & Art Gallery

3 AM

3 AM a homeless man and his shadow the same darkness

interesting stuff i've been reading

Creation and Silences by Kala Ramesh
Shringara – the Raja Rasa
Muse India's shringara poetry feature
The love rasa
KHÂNDOGYA-UPANISHAD

outside (non-haiku) reading

wow. just wow. this poem by Roethke and the way it resonates with me. can't help but share it . . . In a Dark Time

if only

if only my wife . . .
the silence of crickets
as i draw near

Notes from the Gean

i just discovered/added Notes from the Gean, a journal of Japanese Short Forms thanks to Colin's Facebook post . . . also added Colin's own website, serendipiku. . . . oh, and his serendipiku blog as well.

Haibun Today

Haibun Today now a new link added to my list. Can't wait to get time to read it!

both hiding

both hiding
in the rose garden
a dandelion
quivers
at the child's touch