I'll be missing this, but if you are in Seattle, you better go! I hear there is a yummy little party afterwards at the Hedgebrook offices nearby.
Susan Rich reads from her newly released Cures Include Travel. Elliott Bay Book Company, Thursday, 7:30 PM, September 7th, co-sponsored with Cottages at Hedgebrook.
*
And on the subject of poetry. I was looking at the raked-gravel Japanese garden, and thinking of how the person who rakes the patterns does so in such a way as to leave no evidence of his footprints. Is this what we try to do in a poem, or any work of art? Leave no mark of ourselves? Or not? And then I noticed a little divot in the gravel, where the person had probably stepped out of the pattern. And it gave me such delight, breaking the sterility of the scene, seeing this one footprint there.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
There is always at least one footprint...
CD: yes, love that idea.
from "Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors"
"A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you."
After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "There," said the old man, "you can put me back now."
Laine: :) Beautiful.
Post a Comment