Big Bang Poetry

Reinventing the Life of a Poet in the Modern World

Month: March 2019

52 Haiku, Week 6

March 25, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I've decided in the last week I was adding a lot of anxiety to my situation and that I need to reconfigure how I "am" around everyone I encounter over the next week and a half. This exercise helps.

The Prompt: Now

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

'Today I am" is the essential condition and that is no other than the essence of Zen Buddhism.
            – Eido Roshi

Again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

Todayiam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Wind through the branches
Seasons of the century
Leaf by leaf by leaf

The Reflection

A tree came to me as my image of the now, the long, dramatic life of a tree, harassed by all the elements, overlooked by many, but outlasting all the seasons of its life. 

 

Now it's all you.

 

52 Haiku, Week 5

March 22, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Decisions were made this week and I feel some relief from the vacillations around my jobs. 

The Prompt: Focus

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

Look lovingly on some object. Do not go on to another object. Here, in the middle of this object–the blessing.
            – Shiva

Again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

Gave up on the board this week. Will convert these to sumi-e ink in a week or so. 

Pen

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

The light of the pen
Ink machine of the described
Chasing metaphors

The Reflection

So often I can deal with stress by writing it out. I find lots of comfort in my favorite pen and will go to crazy lengths to keep track of it, even if it's a shitty pen. It's the pen that wrote me out of my quandaries! This pen "described" above was from my realtor and it actually lights up for no apparent reason. Illumination for illumination's sake.

 

Now you.

 

52 Haiku, Week 4

March 14, 2019 / / 0 Comments

This was a week filled with anxiety for me due to too many irons in the fire. My brain started to fog out and I really appreciated this prompt. Further background: we went to Arby's the night we learned about Monsieur Big Bang's mom. So now we're there quite frequently for some reason. The curly fries are very good.

The Prompt: It's the Little Things

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

An enlightened being should develop a mind that alights on nothing whatsoever.
            – The Diamond Sutra

Again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My sumi board is getting really cray-cray. And I'm now in the habit of doing a pen version. So below is the pen and a drying (or melting) version of the water/sumi. 

Friespen

Ink-drying

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is the beautiful book example:

Butterfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Hunger in a box.
Tatters in coiled calorie.
Salty, starch comforts.

The Reflection

This was a hard haiku. It took a very long time considering. Writing about food is difficult, it's so concrete. 

 

Now you go.

 

52 Haiku, Week 3

March 7, 2019 / / 0 Comments

KcsnowThis is a Kansas City Star photograph of recent snowfall in the city. It also reflects the gloom of our last week.

So much changes in a week. Last post I was talking about a recycled, repeated past; this week we feel unfettered and lost in a disappearing past.

The Prompt: Fundamentals we take for granted

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

As fish dart through the water, they are forgetful of water; as birds fly in the breeze, they are not conscious that there is a breeze. Discern this and you can transcend the burden of things and enjoy natural potential. 
            – Huanchu Daoren

Again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

So my sumi board isn't really working out. Or else Albuquerque water isn't working out. Each drawing is leaving a trace of past drawings.

This quote made me think about 'things we take for granted' as living beings: water, air…and time, especially time with loved ones. Monsieur Big Bang inherited a grandfather clock last weekend which we drove back to Albuquerque through the snow. It's looming pretense was in my eye line as I was working on this. I was pretty intimidated trying to draw a grandfather clock on the sumi board so I did a sketch first.

20190305_164755

20190305_164926

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Water, wind and time:
all the torrents and simmers.
The clock stops at five.

The Reflection

Donna Lee McCray (March 12, 1931 – February 25, 2019)

 

Now it's yours.

 

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