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Tag Archives: Hokusai

Oi

16 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Family, Poetry, Relationships, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

courtesans, Hokusai, Iitsu, Katsushika Oi, Minimizawa Tomei, sake, tea-house, The Great Wave

Katsushika ōi.jpg

Katsushika Oi –  a poem about

Hokusai’s daughter, herself an artist.

 

He went to brothels

to conduct his art business.

I rode on his back.

 

I liked courtesans.

In the tea-houses we laughed,

before their pimps came.

 

I didn’t need you,

Minimizawa Tomei:

so I divorced you.

 

I laughed at your work.

To me it looked like spilt oil.

Go back to your shop!

 

I was third daughter.

When both his wives had left him,

he called to me, Oi!

 

Loyal to Iitsu:

I changed my name to this, but

some called me Tipsy.

 

I liked alcohol.

I posed for his shunga

and drank a little.

 

He drew Strong Oei

Pouring Sake as tribute

to my assistance.

 

I painted beauties

and ghosted his work, dipping

my brush in moonlight.

 

When my musicians

played their instruments, their wrists

curved like The Great Wave.

 

Though struck by lightning,

the old man did not die then.

He rose from the flames

 

like a phoenix.  He

instructed me in shadows,

before light was spent.

 

At last he bowed out

of his studio; Xian-like,

I disappeared too.

 

‘Old Man Mad On Art’…

Hokusai – my kind of guy.

I was mad on you.

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 9

18 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Nostalgia, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cuckoo, Hokusai, Saigyo, samurai, wet nurse, wisdom

 

81 onwards….

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Who is the cuckoo –

my lover, the moon… that bird?

The morning after!

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The wheel of fortune…

yes, no one can stay it.

Who knows what it brings.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Even in the hills

there is nowhere to find peace.

Life’s never- ending.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Even samurais’

significance can be lost

in past, or present.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The moon has fooled me

by shining through cracks in doors.

Sublunary love!

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Is Saigyo’s sadness

to do with the world, himself,

or, indeed, with both?

 

(Visipix.com)

 

After the showers,

the fir trees’ needles still drip,

as my tears trickle.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

How much happiness

can one heart bear and how

much weight can reefs take?

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I waited for love

and my maids waited as well.

Then we fell asleep.

(Visipix.com)

 

He already leaves,

even though I tried so hard.

I’m not crying now.

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 7

17 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Community, Nature, Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

emperor, Hokusai, Maskao, wet nurse

More in the Hokusai series!

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The Emperor praised

the eight-fold branch of blossom.

Next time we’ll bring trees!

 

(Visipix.com)

 

When the rooster crowed,

you said that you had to leave.

I’ve heard that before.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Maskao – why you?

You turned celibate and then

told the guard, not me.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Eventually

you are bound to catch a fish,

if you are patient.

 

No Number 66

 

(Visipix.com)

 

My heart on my sleeve;

tears are on display, but see –

no one really cares.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

We shared a pillow,

but nothing happened- really!

People are gossips.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

At night, all is gloom;

everything seems much worse,

bathed in soft moonlight.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Maple leaves in streams

may look beautiful, but we

have our work to do.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Ordinary life

goes on in every season-

even in Autumn.

 

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 10

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Community, Environment, Nature, Nostalgia, Personal, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cricket, Hokusai, kelp, Mount Hiei, wet nurse

91-99- (no 100)

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The cricket’s chirrup

makes a difference- details

matter in love too.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

My sleeves wet with tears

and waves tell no secrets.

My child is quiet too.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Collaboration

in Nature and in men too

achieves good results.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

No number 94…..

 

 

Priests on Mount Hiei

wear such impressive robes,

but what do they reveal?

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Old men wouldn’t mind

if ladies would sweep them up

along with the leaves.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Burning kelp extracts

the salt from the seaweed but

not from all my tears.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Riding on the back

of our forebears, we can see

a lot more that way.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Until they’re re-born,

misery caused by soldiers

will be repeated.

 

 

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Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 8

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Nature, Nostalgia, Personal, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Relationships, Religion, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

blossom time, distillation, Hokusai, sake, wet nurse

71- (Visipix.com)

 

When Autumn winds blow,

the man who washes his feet

is truly grounded.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

A servant grasps me.

What kind of master has he?

He must be like him.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

In the blossom time,

even the drunks have a right

to gaze on beauty.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Maybe it’s as well

the goddess didn’t answer

my humble prayer.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Unfulfilled promise:

the reliable seasons

shame your fickleness.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

In the eye of storms,

we pit ourselves ‘gainst Nature

and  just try our best.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

A stream divided

by a rock may still unite,

like love, downriver.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The distillation

of sake may smooth our lives,

or may roughen them.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Sometimes it is hard

to see if the moon or clouds

are moving.  A torch!

 

(Visipix.com)

 

This morning my hair

is as tousled as my thoughts.

Will he care at all?

 

 

 

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 5

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Personal, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Carpe Diem, harikiri, Hokusai, wet nurse

(Visipix.com)

No number 41- the above is 42.  There is no 46, or 49)

 

No matter the oaths

we have pledged to each other,

they are in the past.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I will punish him:

his effigy is nailed here

until he responds.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I am a white fox.

I gave him a son; but he

wishes I had not.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I have been a fool.

Harakiri is my fate.

People should not cheat.

 

(Visipix.com)

No 46.  This is 47:

 

Though all is prepared,

yet in my soul is darkness

no one can detect.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I sit out my love.

In daytime all is idle.

Fires will blaze at night.

 

No 49.  This is 50:

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Carpe diem – yes!

Since you’re going to die young, make

smoke and burn brightly.

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 6

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Environment, Nature, Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ama-no-Hashidate, Hokusai, moxa, sedans, wet nurse

(Visipix.com)

 

Moxa burns and heals,

but the therapy I need

is hard-to-get girls.

 

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

We leave in sedans.

The neighbours pretend that they

did not notice us.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

He was suspicious

when my door didn’t open;

now he sleeps outside.

 

No number 54

 

(Visipix.com)

 

When you hear the name

of a waterfall,

it’s like seeing it.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Now on my deathbed,

I regret sending that note

you may not have read.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Ah, on the wrong side….

You have just missed your father.

Our worlds seldom meet.

 

No 58….

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Sleep is more precious

than keeping awake all night,

mooning over love.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

If I never see

Ama-no-Hashidate,

who cares?  Maybe ants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 4

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Community, Environment, History, Nature, Nostalgia, Personal, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Hokusai, wet nurse

(Visipix.com)

 

Even in winter,

we can survive the harsh cold,

if we work this hard.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Individual leaves

are swept past by the torrents;

en masse, block bridges.

 

(visipix.com)

 

By the time work stops,

the blossom has turned quite brown,

so look while you can.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

The old pine needs help,

but is supported by sticks.

Look, just as I am!

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

You planted plum trees

long ago, my friend, and now

their perfume persists.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

When the fish clean plates,

I hope they get some sake,

before dawn returns.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

We are blown off course –

fortuitously in here,

to taste Nature’s gems.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

He broke cords of love:

but I found there are plenty

more fish in the sea.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Since my love left me,

I don’t notice the glory

in all around me.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

My face is as a book

and I find it hard to hide

the contents from you.

 

 

 

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 3

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Community, Nature, Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

aubade, Hokusai, maple leaves, wet nurse

(Visipix.com)

 

She told me she’d come.

I waited all night for her;

saw only the moon.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

You can’t fight the wind.

It respects no one; nothing:

you can’t resist it.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Geese for the table?

Death stares us all in the face.

Autumn approaches.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Even Emperors

forget offerings.  The leaves

surpass humankind.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

There’s a secret place

where my love and I could hide.

O vine! Point me there.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Maple leaves enhance

your fleeting beauty.  This year,

Spring will bring new shoots.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Firelight comforts

in the dark nights of winter,

but creates shadows.

 

No 29 exists —————————————————————-

 

(Visipix.com)

 

This is no aubade:

when I leave my love,

there’s no privacy.

 

 

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100 Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse 2

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Community, History, Literature, mythology, Nature, Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abalone, Hokusai, Maple, Naniwa Bay, Poems Expained by a Wet Nurse, Sumi Bay, Tatta

(All images are from Hokusai’s series of ‘Poems Explained by a Wet Nurse.’

The woodcuts were taken from Visipix.com’s site.  The poems are my own.

The series was incomplete, so there are not quite 100.  I shall post on ten

sites, to break them up.)

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

I’ll leave the island.

Abalone girls may dive,

but I’m going home.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

 

Virgin daughters dance.

I wish we could trap angels

and de-flower them.

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

First love was a spring:

then a waterfall; torrent…

now a deep rock pool.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Sometimes love is like

the complicated pattern

on kimono cloth.

 

No 15 or 16

 

(Visipix.com)

 

In Tatta’s blue stream,

red Maple leaves look just like

roosters’ talon prints.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Together, aboard,

we sail through Sumi Bay.  Waves

rock us on the deck.

 

(Visipix.com)

 

Such a tiny thing!

How could this reed build a house?

What can our love do?

 

 

(Visipix.com)

 

In Naniwa Bay,

I hope that you will meet me,

though I risk my life.

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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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