Thursday, June 14, 2012

the Tired Monk: on fishing

i)

fishing
zinging lines
across the bay
sinking bait
deep

ii)

pre-dawn
pre-bell
tea
sandals
robes

mist is low
thick

curl up in deep robe silence
just a few dock creaks
and one bobber splash

iii)

no line
hooks
or ancient tackle box

no pond
lake
or cold river bend

just some koi
waiting to be fed



The novices wish me to mention their video - please watch, please click like, please help us bring brother Joel and his music to the Monastery.


Oh...the thumbnail is indeed my koi pond.


31 comments:

  1. i LOVE this, love it! and that's saying something, as i have a ridiculous phobia of fishing poles. well, hooks, really. love it, just some koi waiting to be fed. so simple and peaceful. thanks for this, T.M. :)

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  2. Koi
    are mesmerising
    in their beauty.
    pre dawn
    pre bell
    tea
    it was alway cold
    and now
    you made me
    remember

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  3. a sense of place and fishing here on earth, good job.

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  4. Reading your poems is always as peaceful as sitting in meditation. So beautiful, Ollie. I could see it all, feel the morning chill, hear the bobber splash. I especially love the koi pond stanza....and in the photo it is so BEAUTIFUL. Lovely to have that in your yard!

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  5. Thank you for dropping by my blog and so enticing me to drop by yours! Lovely!

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  6. Well put once again.

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  7. I loved the ending here, Ollie! Koi definitely need to eat!

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  8. I like the sense of metamorphosis through the parts here. The zinging/ sinking word choice is excellent, as well as their placement in the stanza. It's nice to know a lifetime love of fish might end at the koi pond.

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  9. My friend,
    I had to admit that I never went fishing before, but you sure made this very interesting. Great job with this.

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  10. LOL The ending was a total surprise. Love this! I have always tried to get a sense of the joy of fishing. I think I've come upon something in your poem. The serenity. I always thought (from the avid fishermen I know) that it was about the beer. LOL

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  11. I can just see those Koi - lovely Ollie - such a peaceful and satisfying write - only fished once at dawn with a fisherman and did get a catch very small - but what a feeling - :) hgs Lib

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  12. first..i love fishing...and the peace of it...love the sounds you capture in it too...the creak of the dock...and that same peace is there by the koi pond with no need of line...

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  13. my God I love this...your words so Zen like...this would make the Dali Lama smile...bkm

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  14. I have loved the serenity of lakes and ponds and wished to be anywhere else, not fishing...
    Your poetry reminds me to be where I am :)

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  15. Aren't they so relaxing to watch too :)
    Lovely, very zen feel to it.

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  16. I liked the solitude and monastic feel to this piece; beautifully written.

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  17. Some we feed and some feed us. The old monk knows these things.

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  18. Peaceful, all three, but that middle piece could be a mantra or meditation in andof itself. Envisioning the scene, I am calmed. You're a wizard!

    http://www.kimnelsonwrites.com/2012/06/18/over-decades/

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  19. I enjoyed the music and words ~ The ending was a bit of surprise ~

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  20. A very peaceful mood you have cultivated in this! Its like I can hear that pre-dawn air!

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  21. You make me want to change my life. k.

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  22. wonderfully done.I keep wondering how u manage this fusion of precision and depth.kudos!

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  23. Love this and I love fishing. I have some great memories of fishing and we continue o make more.

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  24. This takes me back to my childhood, wiling away summer days with a line and hook in water. Thanks.

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  25. It sounds like an awesome way to get away for a while. To sit by a lake or even pond, watch the koi. I do enjoy just watching fish swim about in a pond, very peaceful. This poem captures that mood. Thanks for sharing this.

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  26. My post is fishing related today as well! The video is wonderful. With lyrics that go:

    " You were putting on your make up - I was looking down your shirt....."

    how could it not be!

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  27. Love those lines, keep casting them my friend. ;-)

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  28. This reminds me of mornings of my childhood, racing over green dew blades to be the first to cast out over the pond. Thanks for taking me back!

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