Poetry by Ikkyū

clouds endless clouds climbing beyond

ask nothing from words on a page

poems should come from bare ground

night falling on night falling on black landscape 

sometimes all I am is a dark emptiness 

that I can’t hide in the sleeves of my own robes 

nobody understands why we do what we do 

this cup of sake does 

a woman is enlightenment when you’re with her and the red thread 

of both your passions flares inside you and you see 

I was like an old leafless tree until we met green buds burst and blossom 

now that I have you I’ll never forget what I owe you 

for us no difference between reading eating singing 

making love not one thing or the other 

 

mirror facing a mirror 

nowhere else

only one koan matters

you 

you stand inside me naked infinite love 

the dawn bell rips my dreaming heart 

I think of your death I think of our touching 

my head quiet in your lap  

this hungry monk chanting by lamplight is Buddha 

and he still thinks of you

why is it all so beautiful this fake dream 

this craziness 

why? 

Poetry: Crow With No Mouth: Ikkyū 15th Century Zen Master Versions by Stephen Berg 

Photo: Vaiden & Will’s Wedding - Phoenix, AZ - November 25, 2006