Waka Poetry and Zen Buddhism
with Seiso Paul Cooper
Expressive Therapies Summit
November 7, 2014
#1
A browning houseplant
Reaching for a dusk-ed sky
Sole reflected light
Uncomprehending edges
Just wanting to be better
#2
The browning edges
Of a fuzzy orange dusk
Implying night sky
Reaching for a reflection
I am weakened by wanting
#3
Stay in the present
Feel heavy breaths in your lungs
Hot feeling rolls up
Tiny pin pricks scattering
I hold empty hands to you
#4
Invite me --
Open arms, legs and heart without fear
Breathing in my scent
Unbuild the wall stone by stone
Cool grey smooth, padded with moss
#5 (response)
Goose bumps on bare skin
The slick surface cracks and splits
The wind stings my eyes
Slipping below the coldness
Shadow and light reflecting
Friday, November 7, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
Sienna of the earth
Failed
Like a rocket that fails to launch
An engine stalled out unable to turn
Like a new toy broken right out of the box
A gift that can never be given.
You were an idea whispered out loud
You grew wings and little toes too
But lost you were from the start
Too many can lead to nothing at all.
You can't have two, it must be one
You must choose which you let in
You must wait patiently and precisely
I won't let you come harmed.
I know this was a disappointment
For you and for us and others
But your turn is soon, stay hopeful
It is only a failure until you get it right.
Sienna. Sienna. Sienna.
Don't be blue sweet little Sienna.
Don't see red as others swell now.
Don't be green for others to come first.
Be Sienna, rich and deep and of the earth.
Like a rocket that fails to launch
An engine stalled out unable to turn
Like a new toy broken right out of the box
A gift that can never be given.
You were an idea whispered out loud
You grew wings and little toes too
But lost you were from the start
Too many can lead to nothing at all.
You can't have two, it must be one
You must choose which you let in
You must wait patiently and precisely
I won't let you come harmed.
I know this was a disappointment
For you and for us and others
But your turn is soon, stay hopeful
It is only a failure until you get it right.
Sienna. Sienna. Sienna.
Don't be blue sweet little Sienna.
Don't see red as others swell now.
Don't be green for others to come first.
Be Sienna, rich and deep and of the earth.
It is only a failure until we get it right.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Can I Get a Witness
Other
Filling up the holes, the gaps, the spaces between. Isn't that what we do? As we get older slowly by slowly our stuffing falls out, seams bust, and we seek those that refill and stitch up the wounds. Nothing comes for free, and nothing comes from nothing. And everything at a cost and we are never the same. Shifted, re-settled, discolored, recolored, puffed up and pulled out. Smelling of others that have touched us, sweet and acrid. I fill up on red asian cats, cool striated greens, and fragmented bits of modern art paintings. Should i leave them empty, open to any passing views? Just be. Don't fill, just be. Be at one with youself. Complete in yourself. We are whole and perfect. At any time. Shhh, I can't hear that right now or maybe ever again. I am lesser without the other. Like a fallen tree in a forest with no one around. Unheard. Perhaps not even existing.
Filling up the holes, the gaps, the spaces between. Isn't that what we do? As we get older slowly by slowly our stuffing falls out, seams bust, and we seek those that refill and stitch up the wounds. Nothing comes for free, and nothing comes from nothing. And everything at a cost and we are never the same. Shifted, re-settled, discolored, recolored, puffed up and pulled out. Smelling of others that have touched us, sweet and acrid. I fill up on red asian cats, cool striated greens, and fragmented bits of modern art paintings. Should i leave them empty, open to any passing views? Just be. Don't fill, just be. Be at one with youself. Complete in yourself. We are whole and perfect. At any time. Shhh, I can't hear that right now or maybe ever again. I am lesser without the other. Like a fallen tree in a forest with no one around. Unheard. Perhaps not even existing.
What we go through
An Even Colder January
sweet little loss
pearl, a pea, a blood
red berry
poured out like a flood
thickly as dirt
a message left
pending, the new moon
splitting cells
uprooted so soon
silent and cold
dear intended
what a diff-er-ence
a day makes
straddling the fence
like a stray cat
in and out swift
a moment to know
you were mine
then a-flight, sparrow
high above me
sweet little loss
didn't have a chance
mismatched
USA and france
to try again
sweet little loss
pearl, a pea, a blood
red berry
poured out like a flood
thickly as dirt
a message left
pending, the new moon
splitting cells
uprooted so soon
silent and cold
dear intended
what a diff-er-ence
a day makes
straddling the fence
like a stray cat
in and out swift
a moment to know
you were mine
then a-flight, sparrow
high above me
sweet little loss
didn't have a chance
mismatched
USA and france
to try again
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