Minimalist poetry: after the storm

 

Czeslaw Milosz - Encounter (zen reading)

Encounter

 (Czeslaw Milosz - 1936)

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

My take: whether intended or not, this is a magnificent artistic representation of the Mahayana Buddhist concept of sunyata (creative emptiness - impermanence), the poetry version of a masterful zen painting, an immersion into the wonder of Buddha-nature.

Scoala cu clasele I-VIII Florin Comişel - Ploieşti (Middle School Florin Comişel)

That's the school where I was a student in grades 1 through 4 (from 1970 to 1974). 

At that time, the school name was plainly "General School Number 11". Every school recess happened in the Jupiter 6 backyard: then it seemed huge to me (although over the years my perception changed). Still, the school was very close to my home (I used to live on Jupiter 2). My classroom teacher was Mrs. Elena Nedelcu, a kind, family-oriented person.

Later, the school name changed to Florin Comişel Middle School.

Florin Comişel (1922-1985) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and director.

In context (and speaking of music): in 1972, just around the time when I was finishing the second grade, Elton John released Rocket Man.

Agnosticism/atheism and the underlying zen

To be agnostic in the sense of "I don't want to get involved" or "I am sitting on the fence" is not a tenable position. It is incomplete in that it begs for a follow-up. However, most of those claiming an (operational) agnosticism are implicitly pointing out to a (philosophical) atheism. 

Otherwise, only "sitting on a fence" would implicitly recognize a certain region bounded by that fence. 

But there is no fence. 

And here is the zen.

Over the Hills and Far Away - my favorite LZ and why

 

In the night that preceded my departure to America (August '92), I obsessively listened, for hours and hours, Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away". This LZ piece remained with me forever!

"Many dreams come true, and some have silver linings"...