Kyoto - Variations on a Theme by Basho

[David W. Parsley]

 

.................................. Kyoto - Variations on a Theme by Basho

.................................. from NOTES FROM THE COMMON ERA

.

Through dark pagodas

winds the invisible stream -

lamps bobbing, fire leaves.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

Strange light spreads across

ice where the sun pulled from view.

Swifts return. No sound.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

After rain, branches

release pink blossom torrents.

Hear the cuckoo’s cry.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

Warm breeze in curtains

wakes me to sunlight, white wings,

dove curled at my breast.

 

 

 

previously unpublished
© 2013 David W. Parsley
Parsley Poetry Collection

[dcmarti1]

release pink blossom torrents

 

Love that image!

[moonqueen]

Dave, these are beautiful, definitely image evoking.

[badger11]

vibrant with movement, very alive

 

badge

[Benjamin]

Your skilful mixture of tactful verbs and imagery provoke the senses... I agree with badge, "vibrant with movement , very alive". B

[Tinker]

Nice! "dove curled at my breast" how much more beautiful can that image be?

~~Tink

[David W. Parsley]

release pink blossom torrents

 

Love that image!

 

And I, in turn, love that response! Thanks for taking the poem as it is, dc, not "just" as the last breath of coda for an unfinished poem (Notes from the Common Era), enjoying it as a spontaneous experience in its own right.

 

I will point out that you touched on the one haiku in this cycle with most explicit reference to the Basho touchstone for the piece. It is one of my long-time favorites:

 

Even in Kyoto--

when I hear the cuckoo's cry--

I long for Kyoto.

 

~ Basho

 

Thank You!

- Dave

[David W. Parsley]

Dave, these are beautiful, definitely image evoking.

 

Thanks, MQ, for affirming the poem's evocative power. Poetry is an experience!

 

- Dave

[David W. Parsley]

Your skilful mixture of tactful verbs and imagery provoke the senses... I agree with badge, "vibrant with movement , very alive". B

 

Badger, Geoff, this acknowledgment from two admired poets is appreciated more than you know. The images are not intended as photographs, but as contiguous pictures each in its own motion. I was personally intrigued to see the poem settle into the sequence of the seasons (traditional haiku cycle) moving forward, vice the time of day moving backward. I barely touched that aspect of the poem - it just happened.

 

Thank You,

- Dave

[dr_con]

david,

 

I love Basho. I love these. They are exquisite examples of the form. Truly worthy of the master! I am very, very impressed.

 

Juris

[David W. Parsley]

Nice! "dove curled at my breast" how much more beautiful can that image be?

 

~~Tink

Tinker, I can think of no more gratifying tribute than this declaration. In many ways, this untainted experiencing of the poem is something that I would like to leave undisturbed. As the other cantos of the 'Notes' begin to appear on PMO, the alert reader will begin to recognize recurring motifs (see Proem) and connect them to action and theme moved in those earlier parts of the poem. Whatever depths, puzzles, and insights that might emerge from the inevitable context, it is my hope that the reader will still always also return to the pure poem in itself that is "Kyoto", and retain that personal epiphany such as you kindly express here.

 

Thank You, Thank You,

- Dave

[David W. Parsley]

david,

 

I love Basho. I love these. They are exquisite examples of the form. Truly worthy of the master! I am very, very impressed.

 

Juris

But if there were a more gratifying tribute than Tinker's, it would be this one, Doc. I honor Basho as being in the first rank of the world's poets. This tribute from an accomplished colleague and fellow admirer of the great Master is received gratefully and humbly. As emulation of form and tone is an explicit objective of the 'Notes', it is reassuring to know that this first example of the method appears to be on mark, at least with some discerning readers. As stated in the Proem, unabashed emulation is one of the riskier aspects of the whole attempt. Maybe I am getting off on the right foot, after all!

 

Thank You,

- Dave

[Terry L shuff]

True to  original form ,  good  nature themes , 

[David W. Parsley]

Thank you, Terry.  I see that this is a form of great interest to you.  I appreciate your interest in this piece, which I am in the process of revising into an expanded version.  This could take a while...

 - Dave