Poetry on Red Leopard

on poetry

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:48:51 +0000

“so far as i am concerned, poetry and every other art was and is and forever will be strictly and distinctly a question of individualityâ¦poetry is being, not doing. if you wish to follow, even at a distance, the poet’s calling (and here, as always, i speak from my own totally biased and entirely personal point of view) you’ve got to come out of the measurable doing universe into the immeasurable house of being…nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else. toms can be dicks and dicks can be harrys, but none of them can ever be you. there’s the artist’s responsibility; and the most awful responsibility on earth. if you can take it, take itâand be. if you can’t, cheer up and go about other people’s business; and do (or undo) till you drop.”

No Surrender

Wed, 10 Sep 2003 23:30:48 +0000

Some of you know that I’ve taken up boxing this year. I recently commented privately about my workout routine. In that comment, I included a poem that distills part of my mental process while training.

It deals with the issue of quitting. I’ve been pushing the workouts pretty dang hard and in new directions. It doesn’t happen often but sometime the routine pushes me right to the line of collapse or barfing. It’s at those times one must be especially mindful of creeping thoughts. It’s easy to rationalize a break or early finish to the workout.

I’ve included the poem here with a concluding quotation from O-Sensei.

Miles to Go

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:38:20 +0000

This morning at toastmasters, Tony delivered an excellent interpretive reading talk on Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I remember the last stanza from the 1977 movie Telefon starring Charles Bronson.

“I know you”

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 01:53:45 +0000

Broken fist
on bended knee.
Behind closed doors,
where no one can see
Who you really are.
But, I know…

“Just for today”

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 01:48:44 +0000

I could be lonely today.
Just for today…
I won’t.

Memory of You…

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 01:41:40 +0000

Surprise…
I was not looking;
There you were.

Panic Attack

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 01:00:48 +0000

An emotion on the
Edge of a nerve,
Opal fire washed clean
Of sin and envy.

No Longer Functioning

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 01:00:04 +0000

I am broken, a disheveled caricature
Of a fully functioning human.

I Am Done

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:59:25 +0000

I will leave it to you
To copy the words
Onto the pretty paper.

What was that?

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:58:41 +0000

The shadows lengthened
Throughout the day
Until there was a stillness
Within the dark.
A glimmer pierced the night.
What was that?

And, so it Comes

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:57:47 +0000

Bouncing off of walls
Very unsure
Destiny’s child
What the future hold.
Shifting tide
Under a full moon.
Kept in the dark
Goddess…Mother
Holds all the keys
What shall it be?

I was wrong

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:57:22 +0000

All this time
I thought success was here.
I was wrong.

Hardly Famous

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:56:42 +0000

If I could be famous
For just one day,
I’d write you a novel
Full of hope and love.
I’d keep you close to my heart
So you would be safe.

Safe

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:55:55 +0000

Bang the pipes
Loose of the crud and muck.

Rain

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:55:20 +0000

Rain floods my eyes.
Pain splinters my heart into dust.
The soft glow of the candle,
Illuminates my fear and self-doubt.
This is not working.
Throw it out!
Time to try something new.

Lost

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:54:53 +0000

Somehow, I fell
Off of the track.
I tried to walk
Down the middle
Of a precarious
Situation.

Depressed

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:54:18 +0000

The flower that grows
In the terra cotta pot
By the garage door
Had the audacity
To bloom today.

Sunday Morning Ritual

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:53:37 +0000

The rock fountain
Outside my sliding
Glass bedroom door
Creates a sense of peace
And tranquillity
In my weary stress
Filled mind.

Just One Last Point…

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:52:40 +0000

I realize it now,
that a few
days have passed
and my head
is no longer
affected by spirits
and illusions of
grandeur
and self-importance
that I may have
been too hard on you
the other day…

Copper Creek

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:48:58 +0000

Light of the half-moon casting shadows;
Stars as far as the eye can see.

Questionable Existence

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:48:18 +0000

Does the fantasy
That resides
Inside your head,
Keep you from having
To face the dread
Of an empty existence?

You Don’t Own Her

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:47:35 +0000

The child without an anchor
Flies free into the face
Of a brick wall.

Adrift…

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:46:50 +0000

We tore at the tether
because we wished to free.

Greek Mythology

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:46:23 +0000

Athena speaks in mixed
Messages and metaphors.

Sometimes

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:45:52 +0000

Sometimes,
our best thought
through plans go astray.

Damaged…

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:45:05 +0000

In the cold light of day
you keep me there
beside you in a
Glass by the bed.

The Poem

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:44:18 +0000

A state of mind
Where images and perceptions
Appear as shards of glass.

Quicksand

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:43:35 +0000

He kept us intrigued;
With wise words and false wisdom.

What Happened to – IT?

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:42:54 +0000

There is nothing new to be said;
Nothing cleaver to be read.
All creativity is rendered dead.
Nothing left – but this silly little verse,
Inside my head.
Please “Shut Up”!

A Positive Spin

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:40:46 +0000

A shimmer through the glass
in keeping with the lateness
-of the day.

Please Make ‘It’ Go Away

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 00:38:48 +0000

The familiar feeling descended
like the yellowed pages of
a very old, well read book.
He was comfortable, but not – happy.