poems: “the bonsai tree is lopsided” and “Goats!”

Last updated on: September 13, 2015 at 11:36 pm by Tom Swiss

poems: “the bonsai tree is lopsided” and “Goats!” 2015-09-13T23:36:12-04:00 Tom Swiss

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Two poems today. The first is from November 2005, and appeared in the collection Octopus Dreams (PoetryInBaltimore/Abecedarian Books, September 2006). I read it yesterday at the Gathering for Everything that’s Left and it moved one of my fellow performers to tears, so, seems like it might be worth sharing.

The second is a bit of doggerel written today just for fun, inspired by a friend entering an essay contest to win a 20-acre goat farm in Alabama. (Yes, really.) I found it fun to read out loud, at least.

the bonsai tree is lopsided
the potter’s glaze on the chado bowls is spiderweb-cracked
the forge line of the katana waves and weaves back and forth like the
footsteps of a drunkard
the black belt of the budo master is time-worn and frayed

zen says no perfect thing is beautiful
the things that are true are irregular, worn
broken symmetry
like the favorite coat I keep stitching up

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA
my heart, too, is irregular and worn
broken and mended many times

zen says
from outside of time everything
is already broken
and everything is just this moment new

the treasure you would hoard is already stolen and dispersed
but can never be lost

the loved one, the beloved self, is already dead
and yet was never born

and my heart
is already broken
already renewed
already reborn
my wabi-sabi heart
glorious in its flaws and scars
is perfect just as it is

and I have already arrived
on the other shore

Goats!

furry horny goats. the deep rich smell of goat. headbutting goats. NASA, I have heard, once decided that goats were the best animal for man to take into space.

billygoats chewing old tin cans! mountain-climbing goats ascending high! goats pulling thunderer Thor’s chariot across the sky! The warrior-trickster goat brothers Gruff defeating the troll under the bridge!

Capricorn in the sky, goat-headed Baphomet, goat legged Pan dancing on the mountain!

Goats!

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