IN THE PURELAND OF THE VOLCANOES

                                                               The Ten Ox-Herding Verses by 廓庵師遠 Kuoan Shiyuan, [Kakuan Shien], of the 12th century

                                                               describes the 十牛圖 Shiniu tu [Jūgyūzu], a series of images called the Ten Oxherding Pictures.

                                                               These Ten Ox-Herding Verses describe a young boy searching for his lost ox as a metaphor for seeking enlightenment.

                                                               In the tenth and final verse, the young boy has found the ox and has returned home, and a portly stranger is introduced.

                                                               Some readings interpret this older figure as the boy from the beginning of the poem:

He enters the city barefoot, with

chest exposed;

Covered in dust and ashes,

smiling broadly.

No need for the magic powers of

the gods and immortals,

Just let the dead tree bloom

again.

                                                                          —Trans. Gen Sakamoto

The Leaf

When your spirit is tamed

it becomes like the shadow

of the rose-apple tree

that of all of the grove

did not move

the moving sun to flee.

Rest in that shade

 It is -

a lion’s roar of Peace.

Leo Rivers / author and webmaster LR  - X-Mas 2021

This site is structured as an installation - a simple labyrinth to wander within.

It also serves as an introduction to me and a Portfolio of the current concerns of my poetry.