Writers in the Schools

The Writers in the Schools program (Houston) sent me this lovely poem by 4th grader Cody:

Ink Heart

What the night hides:/
a stranger in the dark,/
 fire and stars, /
snakes and thorns,/
 a house full of books,/
a night full of words,/
the lion's den,/
going farther south.

Love that last enigmatic line, Cody!

Folks, were you writing like that in 4th grade? I certainly wasn't!

Check out WITS' great program with inner city kids and others
at www.witshouston.org

To Celebrate National Poetry Month. . .

Here are some poems by the Zen master Ryokan, one of my favorites:

How can we ever lose interest inlife?
Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains.

****

I came to this village to see the peach blossoms
but spent the day instead
Looking at the flowers along the river bank.

*****

O that my priest's robe were wide enough
to gather up all the suffering people
in this floating world.

****

Finshing a day of begging
I return home through the green mountains.
The setting sun is hidden behind the western cliffs
And the moon shines weakly on the streams below.
I stop by a rock and wash my feet.
Lighting some incense, I sit peacefully in zazen,
Again, a one-man brotherhood of monks. . .  .

When I read his poems, I want to go live in a hermitage.

Please share some of your favorite poems with me.