my grandfather the master detective – masateru konoshi
‘To all of you graduating here today, it’s not an infinite future that awaits you. Everything is finite. Things come to an end. Youth is a weapon that will rust away before you know it. If you want to grab that future you’ve been dreaming of, then go have an adventure. That’s all. Thank you.’
*******
‘There was this famous Japanese actor who said right before he passed away, “Everything that’s happening right now is exactly as it should be.” I interpret this as meaning “every event is part of a story, and every story has a happy ending”. I’ve decided that in my own life I’m going to try to dive into as many of these stories with their happy endings as I can, no matter how shallow the water.’
The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
On this cold night in my hut,
I worship Buddha with incense sticks.
Outside is a bamboo forest
Lying on my bed I open some books
The rising moon shins through my window.
Insects sing far and near my cottage.
How deep Zen is now.
I read it without words.
*******
If you think illusions, the world becomes an illusion.
If you think truth, the world becomes true.
If life is true, then there is no illusion.
If life is an illusion, then there is no truth.
Oh, followers of Buddha,
seeking the way of truth,
seek first the illusion and truth
in your own mind and heart.
*******
The Master’s finger points to the moon,
yet the finger is blind until the moon appears.
What connection has moon and finger?
Are they separate objects or bound?
This is a question for beginners wrapped in seas of ignorance.
Yet beyond such symbols we know there is no finger; there is no moon.
*******
Hōsai and Ryōkan happily talked poetry, philosophy, and writing until evening, at which point Ryokan rose to fetch them some sake from town. Again Hōsai waited several hours, then grew concerned and began to walk toward the village.
When he found his host a hundred yards away, sitting under a pine tree, he exclaimed, “Ryōkan! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours and was afraid something had happened to you.”
Ryōkan looked up. “Hōsai, you have just come in time. Look, isn’t the moon splendid tonight?”
When Hōsai asked about the sake, Ryōkan replied, “Oh, yes, the sake. I forgot all about it,” and headed off to town.
*pe langa poemele-koan, o bucata din introducere: nu mi s-a intamplat niciodata sa ma distraga Luna, incat sa uit de mine si de realitate, – iar la momentul citirii, am descoparit ca tanjesc…
The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
Another Poem for Mr. Suzuki Ryuzo -4
Snow and ice cover the mountain peaks,
all paths to the valley blocked to man.
Day after day I sit facing the clay wall,
listen to snowflakes brush my window.
Ryokan
The past I know is gone;
the present never lasts.
Time glides by without a trace.
Who can be wise in this constant flux?
I take each day as its own
sustaining myself until I’m released.
After so much wandering, I have arrived here—
twenty years seen through a cloud.
*”listen to snowflakes brush my window” – fulgii de zapada ce perie fereastra. eu i-am perceput mereu ca mici lovituri in geam. gentiletea practicii zen?!…
*prezentul care este un moment continuu, si si trecutul meu mereu incetosat.
The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
Late Spring
Spring green is coming to an end.
Peach blossoms fall into the drifting river.
I seek a mind of stillness,
Yet my feelings rise and fall with each blossom.
Ryokan
The river floods at spring’s end.
Willow blossoms fall on my sleeve.
A whistle from a fishing boat breaks through fog.
Who can ease this sadness in my heart?
*triunghiul “blossoms fall” + “drifting river” vs “I seek a mind of stillness” vs “my feelings rise and fall” -> miscare/ liniste cautata/ miscare. Si fiind petale de prun, similare sakurei, “feelings rise and fall with each blossom” suna ca fluturasii din stomac pe care-i simt la randu-mi primavara, prin ploi de petale.
*”Who can ease this sadness in my heart?” – in vers care imi rupe inima…
The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
Honoring the Tomb of Shi Yo
[…]
And then we parted
and lost our bond.
By the time I returned you had already joined the earth.
How can I face your soul?
I sprinkle your grave with both hands full of water.
to present some token of my respect. Suddenly the sun sets in the west.
The mountain meadows are filled with pines.
I have lingered so long here
my clothes are damp with tears.
imi propun sa citesc cu intentie. cu intentia de a gasi in fiecare zi cel putin cuvinte, o paradigma, o fraza – un citat de consemnat.
acum vreme, aveam un caiet cu citate; cumva, cu timpul, a devenit mai usor sa doar absorb pagini, sa exclam in mine si sa mai intorc o fila… poate sa le notez este un fel de a pastra impresii, amintirea, si de a rasplati, umil, scriitura…
cartea curenta e de poezii. le-am notat si in japo, in speranta naiva ca poate, cu timpul, voi reveni la ele si le voi putea deslusi in propria-mi intelegere.
*ce e poezia?
*minuni interconectate
*”the ballad of the bouncing ball”
*univers intr-un bulgare de nea
*singurate si speranta
*“Nothingness hangs everywhere like a bell.”
si raze de luna…
*****
The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
A Tri-Lingual Edition English/ Chinese/ Japanese
Who says my poems are poems?
My poems are not poems.
When you can understand this,
Then we can begin to speak of poetry.
*******
No Mind
With no mind, flowers lure the butterfly;
With no mind, the butterfly visits the blossoms.
Yet when flowers bloom, the butterfly comes;
When the butterfly comes, the flowers bloom.
*******
Easygoing
My walking skirt is short, my holy gown long.
I go through life free yet disciplined.
Later children stop me in the street,
Clap and sing the ballad of the bouncing ball.
*******
Snow on the Shrine
This morning snow piled high on the shrine gate.
The trees on this sacred land shines with flowers.
Out in the cold a boy throws snowballs as if the world were only his.
宮門 新雪の朝
千樹 春の還るに似たり。
誰が家の少年子ぞ
等閒に狂顚を打す。
*******
Jottings
The rain stopped around midnight.
Morning light lays across my loneliness.
Beyond the door, the rain sings again.
A black cane hangs on the wall.
I have run out of fire wood,
yet who will help be heat my stove?
So many books piled on my bed,
and I, too lazy to read them now.
Tonight’s mood only I can understand
yet how will I describe it tomorrow?
*******
At Gogo-An
This hall is rather bare and cold.
Nothingness hangs everywhere like a bell.
Outside a thousand fir trees; tacked to the wall are several Zen poems
The pot is covered with dust.
The cooking ware is meant only for fish.
From time to time an old villager from the
east knocks at the door in the moonlight.
2021:
trepte catre nori,
si ocol necunoscut –
ce cale alegi?
2022:
ce cale alegi
catre nemarginirea
vietii-n paradis?…
2023:
vietii-n paradis
tu construieste-i punte.
leagan de suflet.
2024:
leagan de suflet:
zambete si lacrimi in –
joc copilaresc.
2025:
joc copilaresc:
frunza mereu verde, azi –
doar cazatoare…
2026:
doar cazatoare –
de-ar fi stele frunzele,
cate dorinte!…
sufar ca nu am putut folosi “dorinti”; m-a tentat sa folosesc “nazuinti” – mi se pare ca suna la fel de arhaic-eminescian-junimist, insa “nazuinta” parca are un strat aditional de tanjire si intensitate – o dorinta la prezentul continuu englezesc…
Impresie. Albastru inefabil... 