+1 if you like poetry.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Japan by Billy Collins

Today I pass the time reading

a favorite haiku,

saying the few words over and over.



It feels like eating

the same small, perfect grape

again and again.



I walk through the house reciting it

and leave its letters falling

through the air of every room.



I stand by the big silence of the piano and say it.

I say it in front of a painting of the sea.

I tap out its rhythm on an empty shelf.



I listen to myself saying it,

then I say it without listening,

then I hear it without saying it.



And when the dog looks up at me,

I kneel down on the floor

and whisper it into each of his long white ears.



It's the one about the one-ton temple bell

with the moth sleeping on its surface,



and every time I say it, I feel the excruciating

pressure of the moth

on the surface of the iron bell.



When I say it at the window,

the bell is the world

and I am the moth resting there.



When I say it at the mirror,

I am the heavy bell

and the moth is life with its papery wings.



And later, when I say it to you in the dark,

you are the bell,

and I am the tongue of the bell, ringing you,



and the moth has flown

from its line

and moves like a hinge in the air above our bed.

by Billy Collins

Regards to the Japanese people effected by the tsunami and earthquake. I hope everything turns out amazing. Which i expect it will. The Japanese people are a resilient population. I hope good things come your way.

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19 comments:

  1. what a great poem by Billy Collins!! loved it! :)

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  2. My heart goes out to the Japanese.

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  3. Another beautiful haiku! Pleasekeep up good work, such an inspiring blog.

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  4. It's really refreshing to see everyone in the blogosphere pulling together and posting tributes to Japan. I hope they are able to dig themselves out soon!

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  5. It's quite thoughtful of you to make this post!!

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  6. i love haikus. this is great.

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  7. great haikus...very relevant

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  8. Many people want to help out, but other than money or being an aid worker, there is another way to help by sending words of support and hope. You can send your message online to school children and emergency workers in Japan via Hope Letters at http://hopeletters.wordpress.com/. Hope Letters will translate them into Japanese and deliver them to local organizations for posting/broadcasting (when it is practical and effective to do so). Help give hope!

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  9. very nicely done, i hope the japanese well

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  10. This is absolutely fantastic. I just found your blog, and wow. What a first impression.

    In regard to the Japan crisis, some food for thought. Japan is the most quake-and-tsunami-prepared nation in the world. By far. And still, look what happened. If this was in the Phillipines, or the US, or somewhere in South America, the catastrophe would be exponentially worse. Praying for Japan, but glad it didn't happen anywhere else.

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  11. Nice poem and my thoughts are with the people in japan!

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  12. "And later, when I say it to you in the dark,
    you are the bell and I am the tongue of the bell, ringing you"
    really loved this part! quality choice!

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  13. #prayforjapan <3 your'e in our hearts :)

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  14. oh always good to read your blog.

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thanks for your support!!