> Hello Gary,
             The images here are very enjoyable but this is another of those poems that I read as if it is suggesting that questions such as the literary master asks actually have an answer. I remember you posted another poem recently where I made a similar comment (I´ve forgotten the title) but I remember (I think) that you replied that in fact you felt that the point was that no answer is given. It was the poem that ended with words on a boys yellow balloon. So the point here is perhaps that I´m reading these differently to how you do. It is true that no clearly delineated `philosophy´ is expressed to answer the question, but for me the very implication that things such as `the flight of dandelion seeds´ might be described by the term `answers´ is a step too far down the romantic path. But maybe I´m guilty of reacting without examining closely. Would you read this piece as casting doubt on the validity of such questions and their supposed answers?





Best wishes,   Mike


> Lähettäjä: Gary Blankenship <[log in to unmask]>
> Päiväys: 2003/12/12 pe PM 08:46:46 GMT+02:00
> Vastaanottaja: [log in to unmask]
> Aihe: Koan
> 
> Koan
> 
> The master asks the student:  How many poems lie within this garden?
>     --Thomas Fortenberry
> 
> Bungou  --
> 
> whether the roses is in full bloom or only thorns and rotting hips
> 
> birdsongs trill or gray down marks a cat's success
> 
> an empty rice bowl begs or the hubbub of wind-tossed webs
> 
> the path groomed or winter hides our hesitant trail
> 
> the brook runs clear or is clogged with broken lotus
> 
> daffodils bud before crocuses appear through snow crusts
> 
> if mice find the mushrooms and we abandon garden, hearth and village
> 
> the old woman who sells onions runs off with the old man who hawks wine
> 
> although the shine of summer shade and night is cloaked with starless dark
> 
> the gardener repairs the potting shed or ice filled, the pots crumble
> 
> the moon is cracked
> 
> the answer, Onshi,  is in
> 
> the call of a ringneck
> the flight of dandelion seeds
> the rain stain on the ceiling
> empty bottles
> bloodshot eyes
> and freeway traffic from Fresno to New Orleans
> 
> If the dog barks, is the gate still open or does it remain closed?
> 
> 
> 
> Note:  The titles are literary master and honored teacher.
> 
> Writer's Hood, the best poetry on the web,  at http://www.writershood.com/ 
> Poets for Peace.... ¡Poemas sí, balas no! 
>