2 poems from "Sky Above, Great Wind"

Ryokan

I woke up this morning reading Danusha Lameris’s Small Kindnesses (The Poetry Foundation recently shared another of her poems, and I have been tripping on her writing ever since). Then my eyes fell upon Kazuaki Tanahashi’s beautiful book that illustrates the life and poetry of the Zen Master Ryokan (1758-1831): Sky Above, Great Wind. I have spent many beautiful moments with the wondrous carefree spirit that punctuates stories about the enlightened monk’s life, and his poetry. There is so much to tell, but I’ll keep it quick and concise for now.

Let me just share with you one of the many stories about Ryokan. It bookends one of the poems I share with you today:

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."

The other poem that I share with you is the one that I read this morning. I read it, and thought of this world gone mad, and said, ah! It talks of a different ‘capital city’, a different longing and a different collective experience. But as it often happens with poetry, there was a momentary conversation across the ages, and I marvelled for the umpteenth time at the miracle of words making their way to me at the right time and the right place.

Apart from the pain of the current moment, the isolation, fear and anxiety, I thought of the farmers still at Delhi’s borders, negotiating the pandemic, and the death knell of the farm laws. The underlying thread in all this, of course, is a completely useless, incompetent, ruthless and bigoted government.

May Ryokan’s words and peace find you in these turbulent times.
I will try and do better and find more solace and poetry to share with you in the days to come. Stay safe and hope the time is kinder to us!