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.’
31 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted Community, Philosophy, Politics, Social Comment
inFrom 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.’
31 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted Summer 2012
inIt’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.
30 Saturday Dec 2017
Posted Summer 2012
inThe 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.
29 Friday Dec 2017
Tags
29 Friday Dec 2017
Posted Summer 2012
inNow 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.
(koto: Wikipedia)
28 Thursday Dec 2017
Tags
(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.
27 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted Environment, Literature, Nature, Philosophy, Poetry, Summer 2012, Writing
in(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.
26 Tuesday Dec 2017
Posted Architecture, Community, Fashion, History, Home, Literature, Poetry, Social Comment, Writing
inSomething 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.
25 Monday Dec 2017
Posted History, Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Social Comment, Writing
inSecond 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.
24 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted Architecture, art, Arts, Education, Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, Social Comment, Writing
inNow 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.