John, You have been perfectly generous with your words, and I love them all.
Marsha -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Carl Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 11:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MD] The Fool on the Hill - repainted Oh my word no! The word "stingy" was Han Shan's and I merely quoted him. Well, I guess it was Gary Snyder's translation so maybe it was Gary's word... But when you pick out a poem that seems apt, you think about the aptness of particular parts of the poem as well, and I did think to myself that I have not been stingy with my word. A bit self-aggrandizing then, but nothing at all critical. In fact, I just wish the rest of you would retreat into full lurk mode and it was John Carl all the time! just kidding. On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 12:41 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > John, > > Last night I started to have this nagging feeling that by 'stingy people' > you might have meant stingy with words, or worse yet, stingy with words of > response, and I felt horrified that you might not know how much your words > are appreciated. Is that what you meant John? Because I very much > appreciate you postings. I appreciate them to such an extent that the > words > I might use to respond seem puny, inadequate, insincere, unequal to the > experience, and I toss out the attempt to respond. Is that what you meant > by stingy? > > > Marsha > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Carl > Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 12:24 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [MD] The Fool on the Hill - repainted > > Yes, there are stingy people, > but I'm not one of the stingy kind. > The robe I wear is flimsy? The better to dance in. > Wine gone? It went with a toast and a song. > Just so you keep your belly full-- > never let those two legs go weary. > When the seeds are poking through your skull, > that's the day you'll have regrets! > > So Marsha, I really, liked the posting of young paul spinning on the > hilltop. I enjoyed it on my laptop and the morning after when Lu was up > and > at her computer, it played again for me yawning and coffee in hand in the > quiet morning home. Only this time on the big screen with the big speakers > and even more evocative sharing it with my wife. > > An old song applied in a new way. Something about those cherubic cheeks. > In Demon Box, Ken Kesey talks about the high powered lens of fame, how it > scours the soul and turns humans into something twisted usually ... With > John it seemed to carve him out hollow, but Paul just let that beam of > attention go 'round and 'round and 'round- spinning and polishing those > cherubic cheeks into buddha bellies of joy. > > a dynamic interaction with an old song > > Then, last night, I sat down with something a bit different I got from the > library and I found a poem I'm sure you've read but for me was brand new. > > a dynamic interaction with a new song. > > And they blended so well, I wanted to offer you a taste > > As for me, I delight n the everyday Way > among mist-wrapped vines and rocky caves. > Here in the wilderness I'm completely free, > with my friends, the white clouds, idling forever. > There are roads but they do not reach the world. > Since I'm mindless, who can rouse my thoughts? > On a bed of stone I sit, alone in the night, > while the round moon climbs up Cold Mountain. > > > It goes along with the Long and Winding Road too! > > But the most evocative image I got from your posting, Marsha, and that > resonated for me the same evening, happening upon HanShan's poem, wasn't a > new picture of Paul, or myself, or Platt or anyone on this forum but the > old > fool on the hill himself. > > Wise men, you have cast me aside. > Fools, I do the same to you. > I would be neither wise man nor fool; > from now on let's hear no more from each other. > When night comes I sing to the bright moon; > at dawn I dance with white clouds. > How could I still my voice and my hands > and sit stiff as a stick with my gray hair rumpled? > > A man sitting in a mountain pass-- > robed in clouds, tricked out in sunset's rose. > In his fingers a fragrant flower, to pass along, > but the road's so long and hard to climb! > In his mind: disappointment and doubt; > old as he is, he's accomplished nothing. > People laugh at him, call him a cripple, > yet he stands alone-- constant, untouched. > > Poems of five-character lines, five hundred, > of seven-character lines, seventy nine, > of three-character lines, twenty-one-- > six hundred poems in all. > Usually I write them up on a rock face > and praise myself: "Very good calligraphy!" > Anyone who can understand my poems-- > you must be the true mother of all things! > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
