Friday 5 February 2016

sitting in quietude






Winter has a message of its own
When the cold is like a flower-
Flowers have their fragrance, winter has its handful of memories.
The shadow of withered branch, like lean blue smoke,
Paints a stroke across the afternoon window.
In the cold the sunlight grows pale and slanted.
It is just like this.
I sip the tea quietly
As if waiting for a guest to speak.


Li Jinfa



15 comments:

Miriam said...

Ce, oare, ar putea sa spuna un astfel de oaspete?...Un oaspete, asa cum il gandesc eu, un oaspete care sa fie alaturi de noi la fereastra iernii, este acela care priveste, atingand cu gesturi usoare bolul, acelasi fel de tacere. Un oaspete care vrea, totusi, sa faca ceva - mai sunt si din acestia:) - poate, doar, sa ne ia mana intre mainile lui si sa deseneze, cu miscari prin care curge, aburit, ceaiul, macar o linie firava din acele intarsii nicicand imitate ale arborilor, iarna.

pensum said...

window, tea, flowers, mono no aware... could any poem encapsulate your beloved themes any better?

James Owens said...

i love the way this meditation goes beyond the distinction between "natural" and "made" ... the teapot and the trees reflect and borrow from each other, until we forget the question of what is natural ... and, indeed, the question is not real, at all (at least, not here, in this delicate world you have breathed into being) ... beautiful :-)

.

Anonymous said...

C.J. Jung once said something like this: The right way to wholeness is full of many wrong turnings and fateful detours. I have come to this blog through pensum, above, through many fateful detours and wrong turnings (if there is such a thing as "right" or "wrong" or "wholeness"). This poem has me yearning to know more about how winter is like a flower, how a flower is like winter. This is a heart warming image, metaphor. My own mono no aware senses the mind of the poet darting from one image to another in the quite waiting for a guest. Beauty and love to you.

billoo said...

Crikey! That tea party doesn't sound like much fun.

Anonymous said...

beide "dinge", der wald und mein teekessel sind gar lebenswichtig für mich... und wie schön ist die innere stille hier dargestellt und frieden und harmonie... liebste grüsse dir, heute morgen! renée

Anonymous said...

Chilling and warm, too. How the cold is like a flower. I will have to write my own poem about that simile. It captures my heart as does this beautiful blog.

Anonymous said...

und eben habe ich das gedicht erst gelesen... wunderschön, das tatsächliche in wundervollen bildern ausgedrückt... gute nacht, prinzessin! deine freundin von den stürmenden wolken :-)

Roxana said...

ce m-a distrat paranteza asta: "mai sunt si din acestia"
e ca pentru noi poezia asta, nu? :-)

Roxana said...

it's perfect, isn't it? :-)

Roxana said...

yes, i think this is one of the essential aspects of the tea ceremony, that it makes such questions obsolete, by allowing one to concentrate on that fusion between natural and made - and transcend it -

thank you so much, James - and for being here, too

Roxana said...

haha
hi, b! welcome! even without the fun, that you surely miss :-)

Roxana said...

ich habe an dich gedacht, als ich diese post gemacht habe, du weisst das, nicht wahr? mit Nostalgie und Zaertlichkeit und Sehnsucht -
meine liebe Prinzessin, sei ganz lange umarmt (eine mail folgt auch :-)

Roxana said...

i am glad to know the poem and the blog in its entirety speaks to you, anonymous.
i wish you a lovely (late) winter day!

Roxana said...

fromaflower, you have a lovely name! thank for you kind thoughts. how winter is like a flower, it is an intriguing image, is it not?
i am curious to know how you found this blog, though, as it isn't mentioned on any site.