WORDS OF INSPIRATION
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Subject: Words of inspiration Date: 05 Nov 2001 From: Kevin Charbonneau Among the Haida Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the verb for making poetry is the same as the verb to breathe. "If civilization is ever going to be anything but a grandiose pratfall, anything more than a can of deodorizer in the shithouse of existence, the people are going to have to concern themselves with MAGIC and POETRY." -Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues "Poetry is more philosophical and worthy of serious attention than history." - Aristotle Scribimus indecti doctique poemata passim ... Skilled or unskilled, we all scribble poems. - Horace "Poetry, my dear friends, is a sacred incarnation of a smile." - Kahlil Gibran "Japanese poetry has the human heart as seed and myriads of words as leaves. It comes into being when men use the seen and the heard to give voice to feeling aroused by the innumerable events in their lives ... It is song that moves heaven and earth without effort, stirs emotions in the invisible spirits and gods, brings harmony to the relations between men and women, and calms the hearts of fierce warriors." - Ki no Tsurayuki, 872-945 Glossary of terms ... related and otherwise:osake, onna, ongaku ... wine, women, music (Japanese) tenjiku-ronin ... vagabond (Japanese) mapourika ... flower of the dawn (Maori) bikuni ... nun-prostitute (Japanese) phar lap ... lightening in the sky (Thai) wadi qadisha ... sacred valley (Arabic) Vulindlela ... he who opened the gate (Swahili) djang andjamun ... sacred dreaming (northern Aboriginal) fugetsudo ... the wind and the moon (Japanese) stressed ... backwards it spells 'desserts' (food therapy) devi yann ... the path of the bright ones (Sanskrit) schraubenschlussel ... wrench (German; fun to say) Yggdrasil ... the World Tree (Nordic) dusha - dushe ... soul-to-soul (Russian) matadredredre ... to have a face that's laughing (Fijian) maktub ... it is written (Arabic alchemy) jam karet ... rubber time; a concept of filtering frustration out of one's daily life (Indonesian) Owhyhii ... the place of the gods (Polynesian; origin of Hawaii) koyaanisqatsi ... life out of balance (Hopi) eudaimonia ... a good life (coined by Aristotle) shibui ... restrained elegance, understated beauty, eloquent silence (Zen term) hygge ... cozy and snug (Danish) philosophy ... the love of wisdom (Latin) kaizen ... continual improvement (Japanese) takakkaw ... it is wonderful (Cree) herzdenken ... heart-thinking (coined by Carl Jung) amans, amens ... lover, lunatic (Latin) moomba ... get together and have fun (central Aboriginal) entelechia ... having its purpose within (Greek; examples - an acorn, you) Zen ... (untranslatable); awareness; NOW Xen ... Australian skateboard company Zenshi ichimi ... poetry and zen are one (Japanese) kado ... the way of poetry to self-discovery; similar to the other do (ways) of Zen: gado (painting). shodo (calligraphy), jindo (philosophy), judo (force) haiku ... a funky type of poem stressing Browning's dictum that less is more; consists of 17 syllables, three lines of 5-7-5 syllables, respectively. The haiku shares other artistic qualities belonging to the Zen aesthetic - simplicity, naturalness, directness, profundity - and each poem has its dominant mood: sabi (isolation), wabi (poverty), aware (impermanence), or yugen (mystery) Haijin ... haiku poets Request - mission - opportunity:Create a haiku. Make it serious, fun, obtuse, melancholic, or just plain goofy. Be a Haijin. Feel free to share (awards provided). Sample haiku triplet from e.e. cummings: I care not greatly Should the world remember me In some tomorrow. There is a journey, And who is for the long road Loves not to linger. For him the night calls, Out of the dawn and sunset Who has made poems. Hip-hop-haiku from the author: Philosophical Philematological ... a man of leisure Hushed Venetian night Gondolas whisper softly Leaping, clicking heels. How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? One, two, three ... crunch ! The Prophet: Jesus? Mohammed? - a simple tome from Gibran's pen. Chemicals are good, Hydrogen and oxygen help us to brew beer. "Don't kick the baby." My mother often told me. I never listened. The November Rain A gentle, clear symphony. Guns-n-Roses rock ! JewishProtestant MuslimRomanCatholic - a prismatic blur. The pressure stifles, The compression suffocates, I hate wearing shoes. The winter palette, A cobblestone mosaic, Prague painted in frost. Why did the monkey fall out of the banana tree? Because he was dead. The outdated map reads: Czechoslavakia - our world keeps turning. The Muse of poets, Elixer of deity, ... coffee percolates. The quixotic quest of windmills and merriment, To dream while awake. Kevin Charbonneau, The King of the Monkey Men. Kneel, simian plebes. Asbestos gelos ... Greek: 'The laughter of the gods.' Did Hera just snort? Mist engulfs the Seine, Paris slumbers motionless, The gargoyles take flight. Testaments, Torah, Tao Te Ching, or Koran? Leaves of Grass shimmer. Nirvana's blossom, The petals of the lotus. Was Buddha a chick? Christmas spent afar Varanasi ... Zanzibar, Santa Claus got lost. Fingers fade to numb, Cortical storms rumble mute, A distant farewell ... Kevin |
