Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licóur
Of which vertú engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye,
So priketh hem Natúre in hir corages,
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
from the General Prologue to The Book of the Tales of Caunterbury
Geoffrey Chaucer
But enough of the 14th century, bring me new names, new haiku, new short-burst-in-the-moment poetry, new art.
Marie Marshall,
editor,
the zen space
__________
John Hawkhead
:
zen garden
finding a cool space
where she used to sit
:
autumn wind
a magpie makes off
with my shadow
:
origami class
we fold bed sheets
into shrouds
:
air through pines
a sudden scent of winter
between us
:
misted light
a smirr of robin song
opens the dawn
:
fitful breeze
creaks from the cradle
never used
__________
:
Daniela Rodi
:
spring is here
all the playground swings are taken
by the April wind
:
beaded with dewdrops
the spider web catches
the first light of dawn
:
early walk
I don’t mea soul-
only dawn
:
trembling leaves
in the cold autumn wind
– my old friends
:
tempestuous morning
my neighbour’s rooster crows
from afar
__________
:
Richa Sharma
:
clouds
in scattered words
my skeletal presence
:
dusk bell
the mind empties
the day
:
summer rue –
sparrow eggs fall
as curtain unrolls
:
meditation
choosing to coexist
with a housefly
:
sunless day
on the park bench I read
sun poems
:
new bedsheet
mother irons bright
sunbeams
__________
:
Sean O’Connor
:
morning zazen
punctuating the silence
urban gunfire
:
Gal Vihara –
contouring stone toes
lines of ants
:
the slow turning sun
sitting all day by a pond
without one ripple
:
fluttering away
from the shadow of my foot
the blue butterfly . . .
:
the storm over
lying awake in darkness
waiting for birdsong
:
on the mountain
in the valley, in the valley
on the mountain
__________
:
Chen-ou Liu
:
the shadow
of a skein of geese …
child refugee
:
the silence
enters my migrant heart …
midnight moon
:
squeaking swing
my daughter’s feet and laughter
reach the spring sky
:
summer twilight …
waves cover and uncover
my naked body
:
breaking news —
no trace
of a summer breeze
:
slow descent of leaves
in morning chill
the years behind me
:
my neighbor’s feeder
dangles from a maple branch
foreclosure sign
__________
:
Christina Chin
:
__________
:
Milan Rajkumar
:
a dark spot
in the winter landscape
suddenly croaks –
above the stone Buddha
the silhouette of a raven
:
summing up
those wandering days
a lost soul . . .
an unhived bee buzzes
amid the hill’s wild flowers
:
a dewdrop
the divine proportion
on the tip of a fern . . .
in her classical dance
pose of a blooming lotus
_________
The next Showcase at the zen space will be Summer 2022 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st July 2022.
Please note that the copyright of all written work and images used in this Showcase and elsewhere in the zen space is held by the creating author/artist, even when not explicitly stated, and may not be used elsewhere without permission.
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