early morning wind
in the umbrella
of the pumpkin stand
MARLENE MOUNTAIN
Photo: Bienatole, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Archives for category: Zen Poetry
Dragonfly on a rock —
absorbed in
a daydream
by SANTOKA TANEDA
Photo: “Dragonfly on the Rocks” by Kesha Linehan, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
How beautiful —
Red peppers
After the autumn gale.
YOSA BUSON
PHOTO: Len McAlpine, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
MORNING GLORY
Zen Poem by Tomiyasu Fusei
I love the rest of my life
Though it is transitory
Like a light azure morning glory.
Photo: Mailman17013, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Note: This poem is found in the beautiful book Zen Poems, Edited by Manu Bazzano with Illustrations by André Sollier. Find it at Amazon.com.
AUTUMN POEM
by Taigu Ryōkan
Showing its underside,
showing its face
a falling maple leaf.
Photo: “Falling red maple leaves, Boone County, Missouri” From the postcard book: Sierra Club Nature in Close-Up. ©Gay Bumgarner, 1988, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Contact the photographer at her website gaybumgarner.com.Find the 160-page book at Amazon (for as low as 53 cents) here.
AUTUMN
Zen Poem by Taigu Ryōkan (1758-1831)
My beloved friend
You and I had a sweet talk,
Long ago, one autumn night.
Renewing itself
The year has rumbled along,
That night still in memory.
Illustration: “Early Autumn” by Qian Xuan (1235-1305)
THE WATER BIRDS
Zen Haiku by Onitsura
The water birds seem heavy
But they float.
Photo: Nathan DeGargoyle
Zen Yo-Yo
a haiku
by Tom Robbins
Brown spider dangling
from a single strand.
Up down, up down:
Zen yo-yo.
Photo: O. Takizawa, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Note: This haiku and several others appear in Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins (Bantam, 2005).
THE BEE EMERGING
by Matsuo Basho
The bee emerging
from deep within the peony
departs reluctantly.
Photo: Cap001Dan, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ON THE WHITE POPPY
by Matsuo Basho
On the white poppy,
a butterfly’s torn wing
is a keepsake.
Photo: Webbmb, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Silver Birch Press 