It's hard for me to believe I haven't already posted this, but that's what the blog search says -- and I must believe it. Here's an interesting item from the always-fabulously-insightful Deng Ming-Dao, on how "anything is subject for a poem," and why a regular discipline of "writing down the bones" can be advantageous to any of us, even -- or especially -- combat veterans. He writes:
Anything is subject for a poem:
A catalog of boxing equipment, a collage of other poems,
Serpentine trail of incense, raised deer fur, old shoes pointed pigeon-toed,
Glass and steel cityscape, almond eyes of a saint, weeping tiny flowers,
Sunlight on whitewashed walls, blue shadows of stooped women,
A spring mousetrap, a trickle of blood in the gutter,
The homing swoop of a gull, chill white-capped bay, scent of eucalyptus.
Green lawn of broken blades, clods of fat earth.
Anything is subject for a poem.
Even in sleep, write a poem.
When waking, write a poem.
While loving, write a poem.
Even voting, write a poem.
When angry, write a poem.
While dreaming, write a poem.
The sages say quite seriously that those who wish to know Tao better should cultivate the poet in themselves.
-- 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, by Deng Ming-Dao.
