6 Short Poems about the Monk Ikkyū

Ikkyū was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet (1394-1481).  A couple years ago, I wrote a sequence of poems about him.  The poems appeared in the Buddhist Poetry Review.  They have recently appeared in my book Mad Monk Ikkyu 

6 Short Poems about the Monk Ikkyū 

1.

Ikkyū stands

at the edge

of the great sea—

there are waves

in his eyes

so he shuts them.

2.

If Ikkyū falls asleep,

his dreams don’t. 

They live

in the river country

of trees and sunshine.

3.

Ikkyū sits

in the marketplace

and tries to explain

everything:

Here’s what he says

to a soldier:

A tree is

the palm of my hand

and the face

of all there is

in the universe

to wonder about

It is the tree to heaven

and its roots start

in my heart and yours.

4.

Ikkyū knows

Buddha can’t tell him 

why the rain falls

or why sin is a wide road

with many curves

or why he grows old 

when he has struggled 

so much to know 

so little of life.

5.

Ikkyū watches

the snow fall

at night

He’s happy

it’s warm

and that others

sleep in the shadows

with him.

6.

Ikkyū  eats

a black cherry

and remembers

a dead friend

how much he loved

strawberries

their dark

sweetness

early in the morning

the harvest

never lasted

long enough