The Dewdrop
THIS WEEK'S BLOG
Denise Levertov – The Secret
The unintentional authoring of a line that reveals something profound to a reader, remains a mystery to the author herself.
Seeing Into the Reality of Emptiness
Zen Master Tangen Harada Roshi on how understanding the truth of emptiness can reveal Original Mind.
Linda Pastan – Why Are Your Poems So Dark?
Linda Pastan’s poem is an ode to the power of the ubiquitous and necessary darkness, and sadness, in our lives.
Bewilderness Writing Workshops
INTERVIEWS
Sheila Lynch-Benttinen – Equations
Judy Mathews – After Weeks Without Rain in Northwest Ohio
Erika Seshadri – Eviction Notice
Nancy Hamilton – The Door Opened
Pigs in Winter
BY QUINCY MCMICHAEL
Snow is water, and water conducts electricity, but the electric fence will not fire as usual, buried three feet deep.
Observed by Deer
BY SARA MCAULAY
I’ve come here for raptors. Left my campsite at dawn, hiked down through blue shadows to the meadow.
MICRO GALLERY
Adam Powers – Relative
Adam Powers’ understated photographs draw out beauty from the forgotten corners of urban and commercial landscapes.
Öö
BY ÇILER İLHAN –
What seems like a flame, passion or romance perhaps is actually love, emerging in various forms, shapes, and levels of existence. If you believe in it.
Songbird Birdsong
BY PAMELA AYO YETUNDE –
A retelling of the Buddhist legend of Kisa Gotami, bereaved mother Keisha comes to a Buddhist Monastery for guidance.
FEATURED AUTHORS AND POETS
Philip Booth – First Lesson
June Jordan – Poem for a Young Poet
Marie Howe – Death, the last visit
John O’Donohue – Beannacht / Blessing
Emily Dickinson – I Died for Beauty, But Was Scarce…
Tishani Doshi – Hope is the Thing
Anne Hillman – We Look With Uncertainty
Jane Hirshfield – All The Difficult Hours and Minutes
BOOK EXCERPTS
The Courage of Our Mistakes – Joan Didion on Self-Respect and Moral Nerve
In this excerpt from a 1961 essay titled On Self-Respect, Didion argued for a morally robust state of being and looked back a generation to a value that was once called ‘character’.
The Glimpse of Eternity – Martin Buber and Our Relationship With The Divine
One of the central themes of the work of the Jewish mystical philosopher Martin Buber was the question of understanding our relation to God.
The Expression of a Better World – Anaïs Nin on Transience and the Painful, Familiar Beauty of Music
Anaïs Nin on music, mortality, and what it is to glimpse a joyful vision of a land from which we came and which we have forgotten.
The Full Awareness of Breathing
In the Anapanasati Sutta, the Buddha presents a visceral kind of practice with the breath, that illuminates the experience of joy, calm and impermanence.
The Self is Tied to This Body Like an Ox to a Cart
One of the most well-known sections of the Chandogya Upanishad is the story of Indra, King of the Gods, Virochana King, of the Godless and their encounter with the sage Prajapati.
Each Breath One Takes is a Step Towards One’s Destiny
Teachings about the cultivation of wisdom by the Sufi Master and the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, Hadrat ‘Alî.
The Buddha’s Last Teaching: Be Your Own Island, Your Own Refuge
The Buddha’s final words of advice to his students before he died were to take refuge in the dharma and in themselves.
Dogen’s Seal of the Ocean: How Meditation and Life Can Flow Like Water
Japanese Zen Master Eihei Dogen invokes an oceanic state of non-identification as something that expresses the true Dharma, or our true nature, according to the teachings of Buddha.
Want More?
THE ALAN WATTS CORNER
Running With Life: Alan Watts on Freedom and Poverty
Alan Watts unpacks the imperative not to hold on to things, but to adopt a kind of psychological poverty—or simplicity— in which the mind is clear and unfettered in a way that allows it the space for true spontaneity.
Alan Watts and Divine Play
Alan Watts delves into one of his favorite and recurring subjects – the way in which we over-identify with the parts we play.
What Have You Left Out? Alan Watts on the Limits of Perception
Alan Watts often said that in order to come to your senses, you have to get out of your mind. Watts was emphatic about self-realization and breaking through cultural and psychic barriers in order to live as a fully-fledged, fearless human being.
Brahman, God, Allah and the Tao – Alan Watts
Among Alan Watts’ most compelling qualities was his fascination with different systems of faith and his
Engaging in Compassionate Action: Pamela Ayo Yetunde
A conversation with Pamela Ayo Yetunde about spirituality, interconnectedness, and the need to foster understanding and compassion in today’s world.
Why I Write: Jenna Wysong Filbrun
In the wake of her new collection, Away, we reached out to poet Jenna Wysong Filbrun to find out more about her motivations and process.
Why I Write: Christian Dillo
Christian Dillo on a contemporary Zen approach to awakening and what meaningful transformation actually looks like.
Gil Fronsdal on Immanent and Naturalistic Buddhism
Buddhist teacher and author Gil Fronsdal on the meanings of naturalistic Buddhism, religion, life and death.
Body Like a Rag, Mind Like a Mirror – Guo Gu Breaking Through Boundaries
Chan teacher Guo Gu on silent illumination, punk music and his teacher Sheng Yen’s legacy.
Surviving Intact – Norman Fischer on Zen, Language and Growing Old
Zen teacher and poet Norman Fischer on where and how poetry and Zen practice meet and interact.
THE BEATS
BROWSE BY THEME
MYSTICS
Eighteen Thousand Universes Through Eighteen Thousand Eyes
The Sacred is the Everyday – Joan Chittister
Thomas Merton on Solitude, Authenticity and Being
Gurdjieff and The Two Rivers
Blinded by the Sun – St Teresa of Avila
“Don’t Tell Me Who I Am Yet. It Is Still Being Spelled Out”
Kabir – The Moon Shines in my Body
Rumi’s Guest House
POPULAR READS
BROWSE SUBJECTS
FROM THE ZEN GARDEN
Christian Ward – Heron, Returning
Poet Christian Ward’s heron, which serves as his poem’s centerpiece, weathers the turmoil of life, awaiting much-needed change.
Susan Coultrap-McQuin – Sunday Morning at the Cabin Up North
Poet Susan Coultrap-McQuin shows us nature’s sacredness with her poem “Sunday Morning at the Cabin Up North”.
David Cravens – American Zen
David Cravens’ epic poem “American Zen” counts as one of the more ambitious works ever published in The Dewdrop.
Lina Buividavičiūtė – A Housewife’s Opus Magnum
Lithuanian poet Lina Buividavičiūtė’s prose poem “A Housewife’s Opus Magnum” reveals a holiness discovered in simplicity and domesticity.
Marcy Rae Henry – start with looking
Marcy Rae Henry’s poem glitters with awareness, gratitude, and release. Each stanza highlights a moment or image that is, in fact, a gift.
Christy Allen – Meditation
Christy’s poem “Meditation” is a simple Zen-like offering, equating breathing with the tides, and also highlighting oneness and interconnection.
Nicole Grace – One Note
Nicole Grace’s “One Note” is a sensory exploration of contemplation, alive with natural and meditative imagery.
Kurtis Ebeling – Snowmelt
With the quietude of the rising sun and melting snow, Kurtis Ebeling’s “Snowmelt” serves as an ode to springtime and a requiem to winter.
Bradley Samore – After a Day of Others’ Demands
Zen-like in its purposeful simplicity, poet Bradley Samore has made us something humble and wholesome with his poem, “After a Day of Others’ Demands”.
Elisabeth Preston-Hsu – Kitsune Udon
Like a steaming bowl of delicious flavors, Elisabeth Preston-Hsu’s “Kitsune Udon” is a recipe of mythology, Zen simplicity, and storytelling.
Hiatt O’Connor – Waiting for Gravity
Seemingly a lesson in simplicity and silence, Hiatt O’Connor’s wonderful poem Waiting for Gravity is, in fact, a work of layers.
Suzanne Eaton – windchimes
Suzanne Eaton’s windchimes is a meditative discourse on wind and sound, and the tranquility and openness manifested by the simple act of stillness.
KEEP READING
What is Meditation? Shinzen Young on How to Deepen Our Focus
Shinzen Young on the most basic principle of mindfulness meditation: the cultivation of focus that can be practiced at any moment of the day, during any activity.
The Most Beautiful Thing We Can Experience Is The Mysterious: Albert Einstein’s Living Philosophy
Albert Einstein lays out his living philosophy and the set of ideals that he held in his personal, spiritual and political life.
Joseph Campbell On Experiencing Mystery
Joseph Campbell takes on the notion of experiencing mystery and considers how religious narratives can actually stymie the expansive human experience of transcendence.
You Have To Say Something: Dainin Katagiri on What To Say When There Is Nothing To Say
According to Katagiri, it can be difficult to find the words or modality to enter back into the world from a place of silence, but it is something we ultimately have to do.
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on Seeing Far and Seeing Up Close
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on working in the starry deserts of Chile during a time when new technologies meant a more remote relationship to the act of stargazing.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Normal Days – A Tribute to the Ordinary From the Far Edge of Life
After a glioblastoma diagnosis, Tallu Schuyler Quinn wrote about what dying meant to her body, mind and heart in this series of moving essays.
In the Name of the Stranger – Pádraig Ó Tuama on the Language of The Troubles
Poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama reflects on the use of the word ‘trouble’ in Irish language, and its relationship to grief and mourning.
The Most Real and Creative Form of Human Presence: John O’Donohue on Soul Friendship
Ancient Celtic tradition upheld soul-friendships and the potential for inner growth that they teased out.
The First Door of Liberation: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Vision of Emptiness and Interbeing
Rather than signifying a lack or a void, Thich Nhat Hanh took emptiness to be a state of inextricable and fundamental interconnectedness.
Giving Away More Than We Keep – Ayya Khema on Cultivating Generosity
Buddhist teacher Ayya Khema on the highest level of generosity: dedicating one’s own life to the service of others.
The Courage of Our Mistakes – Joan Didion on Self-Respect and Moral Nerve
In this excerpt from a 1961 essay titled On Self-Respect, Didion argued for a morally robust state of being and looked back a generation to a value that was once called ‘character’.
The Glimpse of Eternity – Martin Buber and Our Relationship With The Divine
One of the central themes of the work of the Jewish mystical philosopher Martin Buber was the question of understanding our relation to God.
The Expression of a Better World – Anaïs Nin on Transience and the Painful, Familiar Beauty of Music
Anaïs Nin on music, mortality, and what it is to glimpse a joyful vision of a land from which we came and which we have forgotten.
Welcome to The Dewdrop! This little journal is a digest of reflective and powerful writing focused on reading, writing and being. Scroll on for poetry, essays, book excerpts and classic texts.
Sheila Lynch-Benttinen – Equations
Massachusetts poet Sheila Lynch-Benttinen’s “Equations” is a work of heavy content, juxtaposed with simple elegance and sparseness.
Judy Mathews – After Weeks Without Rain in Northwest Ohio
“After Weeks Without Rain in Northwest Ohio” by poet Judy Mathews is an offering or a prayer to the natural blessings of a place.
Erika Seshadri – Eviction Notice
As gently as the narrator of the poem relocates a spider, Erika Seshadri carefully places her quiet poem “Eviction Notice” at our feet.
Nancy Hamilton – The Door Opened
Nancy Hamilton’s enlightening poem “The Door Opened” revels in the glory of openness and emptiness, and overcoming illusions.
Öö
BY ÇILER İLHAN –
What seems like a flame, passion or romance perhaps is actually love, emerging in various forms, shapes, and levels of existence. If you believe in it.
Steve Fay – turnings: a suite of poems
Steve Fay’s “turnings: a suite of poems” is something special, a sequence of earthy fragments tumbling down the page like detritus.
Denise Levertov – The Secret
The unintentional authoring of a line that reveals something profound to a reader, remains a mystery to the author herself.
Adam Jon Miller – anthology
Adam Jon Miller offers readers a peek at a part of series of poems inspired by the ancient Chinese poets with his “anthology”.
Songbird Birdsong
BY PAMELA AYO YETUNDE –
A retelling of the Buddhist legend of Kisa Gotami, bereaved mother Keisha comes to a Buddhist Monastery for guidance.
Liam Wholihan – Elegy for a Virgin-Born Bonnethead Shark Pup
Poet Liam Wholihan offers a lament for several different things in his complex “Elegy for a Virgin-Born Bonnethead Shark Pup”.
Seeing Into the Reality of Emptiness
Zen Master Tangen Harada Roshi on how understanding the truth of emptiness can reveal Original Mind.
Linda Pastan – Why Are Your Poems So Dark?
Linda Pastan’s poem is an ode to the power of the ubiquitous and necessary darkness, and sadness, in our lives.
Dimitri Papadopoulos – burgundy and oak
Dimitri Papadopoulos returns us to innocence, nostalgia, and inspiration with his touching poem “burgundy and oak”.
Kai-Lilly Karpman – On Want
Poet Kai-Lilly Karpman unleashes another salvo against a violent patriarchy in her revelatory and melancholy “On Want”.
Pete Mackey – Finding the Nursery
With his “Finding the Nursery”, poet Pete Mackey takes us on an amble into the wilderness, where we find evidence of transformation.
Jocelyn Ulevicus – Breathing and Swallowing in Montreal, 2017
A hush encounters uncertainty and transformation in Jocelyn Ulevicus’s pensive curious poem, “Breathing and Swallowing in Montreal, 2017”.
The Problem With Business As Usual – On Interconnectedness and the Climate Crisis
Inspired by the work of the Dalai Lama and Greta Thunberg, Susan Bauer-Wu’s book is her personal expression of concern for the earth.
Alison Granucci – Says the Body and Soul
Composed of two contrasting parts, Alison Granucci’s “Says the Body and Soul” is both an ethereal hopeful work and one of rugged desolation.
Archibald Macleish – Ars Poetica
A reflection on the silence, stillness and powerful presence of poetry by one of the 21st century’s leading modernist poets.
Lindsay Rockwell – Watching the Light Shift
Both revelatory and mysterious, Lindsay Rockwell’s “Watching the Light Shift” shows us the path without giving us the answers.