anxiety’s blindness

…

Every day my anxiety grew deeper,

until it enveloped me so thickly

that I could see nothing.

Alone in an illimitable desert

I wept hopelessly, as if in a nightmare in dawn

where the open mouth blue sky wept with me.

…

~Nakamura Chio*

beauty

my gift to you today…awakening seeds of calmness… right diligence

*cited:

Women Poets of Japan

K Rexroth &  I Atsumi

Grazing

There is a peaceful community

in a place of burned up hopes,

whiteblossombeside the tracks of dreams 

that drifted away

on the edge of a village

where crowds pass by.

There, men gather in harmony

to gaze like sheep and fawns.

On all the beautiful flowers

a sun comes and goes

through the clouds in freedom.

~Mitsui Futabako*

*cited:

Women Poets of Japan

K Rexroth & I Atsumi

I think of you on such a night

The autumn wind is light,

The autumn moon is bright;

Fallen leaves gather but then disperse,

A cold crow roosts but again he stirs;

I think of you, and wonder when I’ll see you again?

At such an hour, on such a night, cruel is love’s pain?

~Li P0*

onsuchanight

*cited:

Li Po and Tu Fu

A Cooper

weekly photo challenge: resilient

They ask me where’s the sense

on jasper mountains?

I laugh and don’t reply,

in heart’s own quiet:

Peach petals float their streams

away in secret

To other skies and earths

than those of mortals

~Li Po*

 

Resilient: multiple exposure images of the ever-changing landscape along Hwy. 287 between Laramie, Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado in combination with Li Po’s poem, In the Mountains: A reply to the Vulgar”  reflect the resilience of time and words.

*cited:

Li Po and Tu Fu

A Cooper

Different Dimensions

What is it? Something sought by everyone? Suddenly it splits me in two.

portraiture6of40-postureI feel free to walk anywhere, at least for now. I stride over the distant past.

Sometime ago, in a silence stronger than soy beans popping in the pan.

Hope? Waiting for footsteps? Perhaps to become a Heian court lady

surrounded by a screen of illusions waiting for some prince?

Or is it the prayer of a wife in war-time, anxious for her man in the field?

Don’t say it rises like a spinning wheel without hitting all the rungs.

Is it resolution? The blazing blue fame of mothers secretly resisting their patriarchs?

But I can’t get by on that alone. Why not simply break out?

I only have to get the rhythm down to fly through the day to day.

Like a pilot, astronaut I too am in a capsule, though.

~Atsumi Ikuko*

*cited:

Women Poets of Japan

K Rexroth & Ikuko  Atsumi

A photo reflection of 2016

At this time last year my photography was put aside due to eye surgery.  This was followed by the discontent that overwhelmed me during January’s freezing snow storms, unrelenting winds, and gray-toned skies.  In April it was grief that eventually moved me to pick up my camera as a way to visually honor my mother’s life.  Reviewing the images created in 2016 brings forth gratitude as photography motivates me to move outside of myself and to see the world anew.   Thank each and everyone of you for being a part of my blog journey. May 2017 be defined by your continued awe-inspiring creative works.

weekly photo challenge: path

I believe that in order to move forward, to identify one’s own path and not another’s, requires time to contemplate where one has been, one’s regrets and celebrations; as well as a review of one’s beliefs, values, and guiding principles.

The state of the world today leaves me unsettled in that my own grounding principles seem to be shadowed by the ramifications of war, negation of principles, righteous anger, and divisiveness.  All of this leaves a world formulated less and less by rational thinking and more and more by emotional reactivity.  Therefore, I find that my path is not an earthly one, but one drawn from the words of Buddha:

path
Path

Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition, nor upon rumor, nor upon scripture, nor upon surmise, nor upon axiom, nor upon specious reasoning, nor upon bias towards a notion pondered over, nor upon another’s seeming ability, nor upon the consideration ‘The monk is our teacher.’
When you yourselves know: ‘These things are bad, blamable, censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,’ abandon them.

When you yourselves know: ‘These things are good, blameless, praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,’ enter on and abide in them.
                                                                                                                                                          

This ain’t right!

The church of my childhood and of my mother, her mother, and my grandmother’s mother taught me that the body, the family, and the church were sacred and thus any choice I made in my life was to be drawn upon that guiding principle.

My choice to participate in this past election came after hearing how Trump used social media to shame women…and now to hear that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be performing at Trump’s inauguration brings my soul into a deeper disbelief that began on the darkest of dark nights…election night.

So…I have given my voice to “this isn’t right.” I may have to find some kind of resolution for the next four years, but I will not accept the church’s celebration of human negation and shame.  If your beliefs are similar to mine, please sign the petition at change.org.

https://www.change.org/p/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-mormon-tabernacle-choir-should-not-perform-at-trump-inauguration?recruiter=20691342&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Thank you.  My daughter, granddaughter, and soon to be great granddaughter also thank you for validating the right of all human beings to be respected and honored.