Zen Buddhism and Martial Arts
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Author of this poem:
Robert Rhodes (Yao Xin)
(November 30, 2004)
Informal Tanka
1.
An unexpected blizzard
left this behind -- a fox
finding the true way
2. Hiroshige
this village in snow,
ineffable night --
bodhisattva woodcut
3.
the fist of war
is not the ancient
buddhas_ mudra --
orchids bloom
4.
may all bombs fall
into emptiness tonight --
the bleak prayer
of the old buddhas
5.
thus I have heard
on my dusty black
cushion --
the silent dharani
in the bloodstream
6.
Dogen_s rice cake --
the ultimate
one-taste Zen
7. Borealis
The aurora fans out,
a prairie-broad tent --
November mandala
8. Needle Exchange/Minneapolis
hungry ghosts
on Hennepin Avenue --
winter_s misery,
as sharp as heroin,
as slush in the gutters
9. Cold Snap
the wooden buddha
knows he can be
next
to enter the fire
10. Living Room
the standing
Cambodian buddha
observes us all
with comedic
nondiscrimination
11. Wallace Stevens
the mind of winter
cannot penetrate
these lavender woods,
these meticulous stars,
this fading year
of the usual sorrows
to which we cling,
so religiously
12.
sunface
moonface
everything dark, even
these original eyes and mouth
on winter evenings
13.
evening snowfall --
nearly as swift
as rain
14.
incense stick
in an inch of
loose snow -- amber
prayer smoke for
this universe of trees
15. Sortie
crows carouse
in wartime
formations --
Kansas autumn,
a fatal month
