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Candia Comes Clean

~ Candid cultural comments from the Isles of Wonder

Monthly Archives: December 2017

Quote for the Day

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Community, Philosophy, Politics, Social Comment

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An Account from my Hut, Kamo no Shomei, quotation

From The Miscellany of a Japanese Priest by Kenko,

14th century, referencing Kamo no Chomei)

‘When reforms bring no benefit, it is better to leave things as they are.’

 

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Personal Space

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Summer 2012

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It’s amazing how

time vanishes so quickly.

I had always thought

this was a temporary

dwelling, but I hear

many of my friends have died

since I de-camped here

to this simplification

of my lifestyle and habits.

I am a recluse,

but I know tranquillity.

My house is my own,

custom-designed for my needs

and not for others’ pleasures.

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Nature and Companionship

30 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Summer 2012

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The companionship

of one who is much younger

is satisfying,

if you can adjust your pace –

both walking in step.

Enjoying beauteous Nature,

one is truly free;

sustenance will come from her;

there is sufficient to share.

Tame animals will

show trust in human beings,

reminding me that

it is a different world

and one I’m glad I’ve chosen.

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Image

Sewing Geisha

29 Friday Dec 2017

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geisha, pen ink drawing

Sewing geisha

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Posted by Candia | Filed under art, Arts, History, Nostalgia

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A Place of Own’s Own

29 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Summer 2012

≈ 1 Comment

Now I am sixty,

all I need is a shelter

and I pay no heed

to feng shui, or to roots.

Taking up tent pegs;

being able to move at

the drop of a hat

is all I care about now.

I have my books and my lute.

Who would ask for more?

I can collect free firewood;

I enjoy the view;

my prayers are spontaneous;

I make music for myself.

 

Japanese Koto.jpg

(koto:  Wikipedia)

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No-Win Situations

28 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Community, Crime, Poetry, Social Comment, Sociology, Writing

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An Account of my Hut, choka, Hojoki, Kamono

(Wikipedia:  Kamo no Chomei by Kikuchi Yosai)

 

Poem based on the above’s An Account of My Hut:

 

If you live next door

to the wealthy, you will be

mostly uneasy,

for you will have to tone down

your own highs and lows,

or become a sycophant,

in the knowledge that

you are not even rated.

If you live in town,

there are disadvantages

and, in the country,

public transport is lacking.

You can’t win as thieves like both

isolation and big crowds.

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Even a Samurai Sobs

27 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Environment, Literature, Nature, Philosophy, Poetry, Summer 2012, Writing

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Buddha, choka, Kamono An Account of My Hut, samurai, Todaiji

(Image Todaiji Buddha: Wikipedia)

 

When a child is crushed

in a terrible earthquake,

even a samurai sobs.

The after- tremors:

they are quite terrifying.

It was bad enough

when the Todaiji Buddha’s

head fell off, so long ago.

But, what did it signify?

Anything at all?

Man’s vanity was rife then

and it exists now.

What is the point of trying

to analyse it?  No point.

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You can bet your boots

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Architecture, Community, Fashion, History, Home, Literature, Poetry, Social Comment, Writing

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An Account of my Hut, choka, Fukuhara, Kamo no Chomei, Kyoto

Something so simple

as the capital changing

made everyone move,

except for the redundant.

Highly-prized estates

fell into rack and ruin.

Men were uncertain.

Suddenly they all shifted

right back to where they’d come from.

Well, Fukuhara

was found to be limiting.

You can bet your boots

old houses were not re-built

in terms of former grandeur.

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Priorities

25 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in History, Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Social Comment, Writing

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choka, Kamono

Second choka inspired by Kamono’s ‘An Account of My Hut’:

 

Winds will sweep away

Man’s attempts at division

and segregation.

Disaster exceptional?

Don’t believe it’s so.

People interpret events;

seek correlations.

Houses float downriver.

The poor don’t philosophise:

they don’t have the time

and they value what’s useful,

rather than ephemera.

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Mutability

24 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Candia in Architecture, art, Arts, Education, Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, Social Comment, Writing

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An Account of my Hut, choka, Donald Keene, Hojoki Kamono, melancholy, mutability

Now deriving inspiration from Donald Keene’s translation of Hojoki

Kamono’s  An Account of My Hut.

 

Here’s my first somewhat melancholy choka:

 

Of all the people

that I knew, only a few

are left.  Now my friends

evaporate like bubbles,

or foam on water.

Why do we bother to build

enduring dwellings?

They will not benefit us,

nor necessarily last.

Some burn to ashes;

earthquakes destroy foundations.

Which ones will remain?

It is unpredictable,

as Life itself, one must think.

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← Older posts

My name is Candia. Its initial consonant alliterates with “cow” and there are connotations with the adjective “candid.” I started writing this blog in the summer of 2012 and focused on satire at the start.

Interspersed was ironic news comment, reviews and poetry.

Over the years I have won some international poetry competitions and have published in reputable small presses, as well as reviewing and reading alongside well- established poets. I wrote under my own name then, but Candia has taken me over as an online persona. Having brought out a serious anthology last year called 'Its Own Place' which features poetry of an epiphanal nature, I was able to take part in an Arts and Spirituality series of lectures in Winchester in 2016.

Lately I have been experimenting with boussekusekeika, sestinas, rhyme royale, villanelles and other forms. I am exploring Japanese themes at the moment, my interest having been re-ignited by the recent re-evaluations of Hokusai.

Thank you to all my committed followers whose loyalty has encouraged me to keep writing. It has been exciting to meet some of you in the flesh- in venues as far flung as Melbourne and Sydney!

Copyright Notice

© Candia Dixon Stuart and Candiacomesclean.wordpress.com, 2012-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Candia Dixon Stuart and candiacomesclean.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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