Category: Lifestyles of Poets (Page 3 of 9)

It's a dog's life. So I'm working from home now and I can really monitor what the dogs do all day long and as I contemplate my own sense of peace, I can contemplate theirs as well. They do a lot of sleeping, begging and barking at the world outside the house. Occasionally, they will play with each other.

The last time I worked from home, four years ago, Franz would always try to get up into my lap. He doesn't do that anymore. He's getting too old. I bought him a fancy couch (advertised at left)s to get him to stay in the office with me. Sometimes he'll sleep in it. But only when he feels like it. 

Everyone always tells me one of my dog is is a Zen master. Just the other day the vet looked shocked when she was listening to his heart beat calmly up on the table. No vet appointment is going to rattle him! Years ago I went on an archaeological trip with the students at Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM, and one of them spent 10 minutes staring at Franz before saying, "Your dog is intense man!" 

The Prompt: Animal Nature

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"Does a dog have the Buddha nature?"
            – Zen phrase

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by my drawing (which looks nothing like Franz but that's the best dog I could do):

Stares like an old sage
Barking out the window now
Will be asleep soon

The Reflection

I always find it strange when people question the spirituality of animals, especially dogs, who snap to the moment better than anyone. Sure, there are dogs that fret and there's a spectrum of dog-calm and they get furiously off-kilter over territorial disputes…and they do seem to dream (going over all the drama of the day). But they still seem better suited to paying attention than we are. Watch a dog beg at the dinner table. I give them people food just to be able to experience it. They're masters of manipulation and the long game.

How about you?

Not much to report this week. Had good news and bad news. Settling down, working out again, routine is good. Getting ready for a summer of visitors. Flowers are coming up in the yard. 

The Prompt: Going Deep and Light

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"Moonlight penetrates
to the bottom of the lake
yet no trace is left."
            – Zen poem

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by my blurry moon drawing. 

Soft half of the moon
runs deep into the balance
of tipping horizons

The Reflection

I was doing some reading about how a lot of life's work is calibrating to the challenges and changes. I also liked the prompt poem's idea of making an impression, both deep yet unobtrusive. Yeah, I like that. The book's drawing was the back of Buddha meditating under a full moon. My own drawing took me a while of complicated ideation where the moon was where the heart was. But I had to go full Thoreau and "simplify, simplify."

Now it's yours to turn around.

Most of life is not knowing what's coming. I just went through a reorg again at my new (old) job. Who knows what the future will bring as a result. There are always unintended consequences. The adventure continues. Most of the things that affect your life will remain unknown to you. It's scary but interesting too.

The Prompt: Not Knowing

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"A wild goose
Passing the length of the sky
Casts a shadow
Into the cold water

The goose has no idea
Of leaving a trace,
The water no consciousness
of a shadow striking through."
            – Zen Phrase

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Shadows of the world
In ceaseless adventure
Life fish in the sky

The Reflection

For some reason when I started thinking about this prompt I remembered a trip I took with some friends up to Clayton, New Mexico, a few weekends ago. My friend Melo was leading a project to drive drones over some dinosaur tracks there and make 3-D map renderings of them. She showed us the dinosaur footprints and tail tracks in detail and we spent a few days exploring the area (which is my Dad's family's terra sancta so I know it's nooks and crannies). One of the things to do up there is to visit Caupulin Volcano and hike the rim. From there we saw a lot of Turkey Vultures; and they literally look like a child's drawing of a bird! An upside down, flying W!! I thought of that when I thought of trying to draw clouds, birds and fish sharing the sky.  

Now it's your turn.

I spent a really fun weekend in Chicago driving around the north side and walking around downtown to see Monsieur Big Bang's old haunts, then going to Champagne/Urbana watching my nephew graduate from University of Illinois. I came hold sick with a pretty bad cold. So this week's Haiku almost didn't make it.

The Prompt: Doing Nothing

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"Steadfastly doing nothing, sitting there
Spring comes and the grass grows of itself."
            – Zen Phrase

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Headless of my care,
the smirking dandelion.
Nature is a cabal.

The Reflection

Maybe it was the cold talking, but this was the first prompt that I took issue with. Granted my mind is going 100-miles-a-minute these days and I need a good lesson in doing nothing and liking it. But does this saying know the orchestrations the Earth goes through to facilitate a Spring? And my grass doesn't grow itself or of itself. Right now it's demurring to a pack of bully foxtails. But I guess that's not really the point, is it? The world revolves itself and things grow wild without any help from me. So calm the f*#k down. 

What do you have to say about it?

I'm in between trips and finding my way into a routine again.

The Prompt: Gates

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"The great way has no gates.
There are thousands of different ways in."
            – Zen Saying

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Paths that lead to stone
Gates that do not look like gates
Paths that lead to ash

The Reflection

One of my trips last weekend was to a cemetery and so tombstones were in my subconscious I guess. They look interestingly gate-like. 

Now your turn.

This week is all about calming down. I just finished another month of NaPoWriMo and I'm pretty tired. Lots of poetry stuff in the last week. I need to CTF down.

The Prompt: One Spec of Dust

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"Day after day,
Day after day,
Dust of the mind collects;
Be sure to wash it away
And find your original self."
            – Zen Saying

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Save one spec of dust,
a small thing floating along–
dome of the blue sky.

The Reflection

When I meditated on this, trying to empty my mind, I kept seeing one spec of dust escaping my third eye. De-cluttering is a very one-at-a-time process, so that's what I tried.

Now you.

My first few weeks back working with ICANN and I was anxious. Two days planting lavender, honeysuckle and jumbo sunflowers and I was sore! Sore and anxious, that was me this week.

The Prompt: Breathe

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"The hand sees, the eye
Draws, the body breathes.
Wake up! A rabbit."
            – Myochi

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Forgetting to breathe
with your heart and ink–that's me
and the ink rabbit.

The Reflection

Confused rabbit all the way. Time to breathe. 

Now it's you.

This was the first great week I've had in many moons! I feel very grateful and appreciative and am trying to enjoy the joy. In fact, one of the good things that happened last week was an email starting with "joyful news." So joy is definitely a theme this week. Our prompt even used the word "wondrous" which you don't hear very often but it's a world I've loved since I first saw it as the title of one of Sonny & Cher's albums from the 1960s.

The Prompt: Joy

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"The wind has settled, the blossoms have fallen;
Birds sing, the mountains grow dark–
This is the wondrous power of Buddhism."
            – Ryokan

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Steam rising on oats.
Birds appear to consider
from far, far away.

The Reflection

In the place I live now there's a big trumpet vine along the wall out of the dining room window. So many birds are coming right now and while I eat breakfast, their big shadows startle me sometimes. I sat there every morning last week trying to settle into new patterns with a new job back at ICANN.org.

Now you take a go at it.

So this week has been a really needed and fortunate time of just collecting myself for what comes ahead. And I feel it's helping me intellectually catch up. My brain has space to think again! (manic weeping ensues!)

The Prompt: Space

Again this week's prompt comes from the Zen by the Brush book by Myoshi Nancy O'Hara. 

"Snail at my feet-
Open space between two thoughts.
Where did you come from."
            – Myochi

And again, first task is to sit for a meditation on that for 5-10 minutes or however long you feel is good to you.

The Drawing

I had trouble focusing on one drawing this week. This is why sumi-e ink is much better for this exercise. No backsies or redos! 

My Haiku

…inspired by the drawing. 

Ephemeral thing
Floating profoundly through.
Old thoughts collect snow.

The Reflection

I was reading the prompt and thinking of thoughts like clouds. They can only flow through were there is space between solid things.

This also reminded me of the creative process and a video my Digital Storytelling class watched last week about the mental processes of creativity.

Now your turn.