One of the very best views of the New Year we’ve seen is from the late Lebanese-American poet and visual artist, Etel Adnan*:
January 1 is a seed, a pea, a lentil…it will grow, and sprout, be green and shiny…
…the new year is a good omen!
Even amidst the darkness that seems so pervasive, it reminds of possibilities, of all that is germinating, in this very moment, without trying. Despite all.
Shortly after we read it, this poem* from the great 13th century Chinese poet, Stonehouse jumped into our hands,:
A hundred years pass by in a flash
how many think this through
if what you’re doing right now isn’t clear
the edge between life and death is sheer
stitches on a monk’s robe are a loving wife’s tears
jade grains of rice are an old farmer’s fat
don’t think who gives receives no reward
a fruit forms in time when there is a seed
*Etal Adnan: Light’s New Measure” in currently on exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. This tiny video gives a glimpse.
Poem from The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse.
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