Poem of the Day » zen

The Monkey is Reaching

Tejvan Pettinger — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:20:56 +0000

The monkey is reaching
For the moon in the water.
Until death overtakes him
He’ll never give up.
If he’d let go the branch and
Disappear in the deep pool,
The whole world would shine
With dazzling pureness.

Hakuin

Zen Poems by Basho

Tejvan Pettinger — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:45:44 +0000

How reluctantly
the bee emerges from deep
within the peony

- Basho

Old pond,
frog jumps in
- splash

- Basho

Lightning:
Heron’s cry
Stabs the darkness

- Basho

On The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Tejvan Pettinger — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:31:58 +0000

Midnight, No waves,
no wind, the empty boat
is flooded with moonlight.

- Dogen

Translated by: Stephen Mitchell
From: The Enlightened Heart, An Anthology of Sacred Poetry

They Follow the Way – Bodhidharma

Tejvan Pettinger — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:28:54 +0000

When mortals are alive, they worry about death.
When they’re full, they worry about hunger.
Theirs is the Great Uncertainty.

But sages don’t consider the past.
And they don’t worry about the future.
Nor do they cling to the present.
And from moment to moment they follow the Way.

By: Bodhidharma

Zen Poems

Zen Haiku Poems – Dusk

Tejvan Pettinger — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:04:20 +0000

For the man who says
He tires of his child
There are no flowers

Basho

The Burning sun
Sunk in the sea
By the Mogami river

Basho

That soon they will die
Is unknown
To the chirping cicadas

Basho

Zen Haiku Poems – Daylight

Tejvan Pettinger — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:14:33 +0000

Not spring nor autumn
None touch the heights of Fuji

Baishitsu

Across the summer stream
With such joy
My sandals in my hand

Buson

Oh my… Oh my…
Was all I could say
Of the flowers on Mount Yoshino

Teishitsu

Zen Haiku Poems – Moonlight

Tejvan Pettinger — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:50:46 +0000

The Autumn moon
Shining so brightly
So I wrote this.

Sekkei

Cry not, insects
For even stars in love
Must endure separation.

Issa

Watching the cormorant fishing boats
In time
I was full of sorrow.

Basho

Some villages have no sea bream
Some no flowers
But all see tonight’s moon.

Saikaku

Zen Haiku Poems – On Dawn

Tejvan Pettinger — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:46:51 +0000

In field nor mountain, nothing stirs
On this snowy morning.

Chiyo – Ni

But for their cries,
The herons would be lost
Amidst the morning snow.

Chiyo – Ni

I break my fast
Amidst the morning glory.

Basho

In the spring rain
All things grow beautiful.

Chiyo Ni