In her epic "Samsara", poet Claudia Kessel leans the ancient tenants of Buddhism against the gritty reality of the 21st Century.
Tag: Suffering
Bob Rama – Ascetic Aesthetics
Translator and poet Bob Rama shines a little candlelight on ascetic renunciation in his pleasingly-titled poem "Ascetic Aesthetics".
Jonathan Jones – man in the rain
It's not without harshness and brutal honesty that poet Jonathan Jones lays out all the discomforts of reality in his poem "man in the rain".
The Merlin (Surprised by Joy)
An injured merlin opens the door to the way in which grief and joy are so bewilderingly intertwined in our hearts. BY DEREK FURR
Not Done
The hardest battles of cancer often give rise to the most resilience, wisdom and love. BY NOAH LANE BROWNE
Robert Hass – Faint Music
The possibility of a melodious tenderness found within deeper, softer levels of our individual grasping, struggling, imperfect humanity.
Joy Sullivan – Sister
Joy Sullivan's poem on the lived sense of healing while being held in another person's deep, loving attention.
“Everything Alive Has its Own Truth” John Tarrant’s Retelling of the Story of the Buddha
One unique aspect of the Buddha's story is that he worked so hard to overcome the happy ending - the easy life and palatial riches.
Jovan Virag – Torii Gates
California poet Jovan Virag serves readers as a guide up to a mountaintop Shinto shrine in Japan with her poem "Torri Gates".
We Are Always Halfway
BY DICK VERSTEGEN Being halfway is not discouraging, but liberating. It is the resting place of constant alertness.