Archive for the 'gary snyder' Category

Kyoto: March by Gary Snyder

January 13th, 2010 Comments(0)

I like the image this poem conjures, and the feeling that generations of people have seen this image.

Kyoto: March
By Gary Snyder

A few light flakes of snow
Fall in the feeble sun;
Birds sing in the cold,
A warbler by the wall. The plum
Buds tight and chill soon bloom.
The moon begins first
Fourth, a faint slice west
At nightfall. Jupiter half-way
High at the end of night-
Meditation. The dove cry
Twangs like a bow.
At dawn Mt. Hiei dusted white
On top; in the clear air
Folds of all the gullied green
Hills around the town are sharp,
Breath stings. Beneath the roofs
Of frosty houses
Lovers part, from tangle warm
Of gentle bodies under quilt
And crack the icy water to the face
And wake and feed the children
And grandchildren that they love.

Civilization by Gary Snyder

March 18th, 2006 Comments(0)

I finished Middlesex this morning and came across a reference to the poet Gary Snyder. Since I’d never heard of him, I went and found a poem of his to post.

Civilization
By Gary Snyder

Those are the people who do complicated things.

     they’ll grab us by the thousands
     and put us to work.

World’s going to hell, with all these
     villages and trails.
Wild duck flocks aren’t
     what they used to be.
Aurochs grow rare.

Fetch me my feathers and amber

               *

A small cricket
on the typescript page of
“Kyoto born in spring song”
grooms himself
in time with The Well-Tempered Clavier.
I quit typing and watch him through a glass.
How well articulated! How neat!

Nobody understands the ANIMAL KINGDOM.

               *

When creeks are full
The poems flow
When creeks are down
We heap stones.