East and West

T. D. Suzuki once contrasted East and West using a poem of Tennyson and a poem of Basho on the poet’s reaction to a flower. In Basho, the wonder and aston...

Silence

In the middle of the night a rush of wind through the trees awakens me, as the chimes — the heavy copper ones — clang vigorously. Then, just as sudd...

Hikikomori

Some years ago, media told us about hikikomori, the extreme social withdrawal among young (and not so young) males in Japan. Their behavior — not coming o...

Frog

A frog occupies the old plastic rain gauge by the gate. The rain gauge is a faded translucent yellow, cracked at a point where rain never reaches anyway, hung o...

Vultures

In the garden, a winged shadow passes over me and ripples low over the ground, the trees, and beyond. Vultures are not unusual or even unwelcome, often appearin...

Full moon II

An hour into morning and the full moon is a sad relic, a pasty disc barely adhering to the sky, disappearing. Where the stars are discrete and hide themselves a...

Full moon

The full moon at night illuminates the trees and makes phosphorescent plants and ground cover. I awaken at night from the moonlight streaming through an uncurta...

Power II

A paradox of power is that while the hermit renounces power, the oppressed and exploited of the world might well seek power in order to redress their plight. Is...