Nothing Special
James Sawers
- Over
- the
- years,
- writing
- in
- poetic
- format
- has
- assisted
- in
- my
- own
- understanding
- of
- certain
- materials
- or
- encounters
- as
- I
- attempted
- to
- capture
- a
- lesson,
- insight,
- or
- observation
- I
- have
- experienced.
- Hopefully,
- the
- reader
- will
- gain
- from
- this
- practice,
- also.The
- Chan/Zen
- tradition
- uses
- a
- variety
- of
- metaphoric
- imagery.
- In
- time,
- because
- of
- their
- training,
- interests,
- and
- worldview,
- Chan/Zen
- poets
- created
- a
- type
- of
- "code"
- for
- writing
- and
- reading
- their
- poetry.
- Images
- such
- as
- the
- moon,
- clouds,
- herons,
- monkeys,
- etc.
- can
- take
- on
- complex
- connotations
- derived
- from
- Chan/Zen
- ideas,
- historical
- Chan
- and
- Buddhist
- texts,
- and
- famous
- conversations.
- Accordingly,
- a
- Chan/Zen
- poetic
- line
- can
- carry
- multiple
- meanings
- simultaneously.
- The
- moon,
- for
- example,
- is
- associated
- with
- enlightenment,
- or
- the
- attempt
- to
- achieve
- enlightenment,
- and
- the
- difficult
- struggle
- this
- can
- entail.While
- it
- is
- always
- recommended
- that
- one
- go
- to
- the
- source
- material,
- I
- hope
- that
- this
- selection
- of
- poems
- offers
- some
- clarity,
- transparency
- and
- insight
- into
- materials
- and
- subject
- matter
- that
- I
- have
- frequently
- found
- not
- to
- have
- these
- attributes.
As
- in
- the
- previous
- work,
- Nothing
- Works,
- the
- poems
- in
- this
- book
- are
- heavily
- influenced
- by
- the
- styles
- of
- classical
- Chinese
- and
- Japanese
- poetry.
- In
- the
- landscape
- tradition
- of
- Chinese
- poetry,
- Mountains-and-Rivers
- emphasizes
- the
- wilder
- aspects
- of
- landscape,
- with
- Fields-and-Gardens
- representing
- the
- more
- domestic
- aspects
- of
- landscape.
- I
- have
- added
- a
- third
- category
- I
- call
- Concrete-and-Steel,
- based
- on
- a
- more
- modern,
- urban
- perspective,
- but
- still
- inspired
- by
- and
- honoring
- the
- prior
- Chinese
- poetic
- traditions,
- as
- best
- I can.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
