Everyday Mind XXVI

I am Tekkan. I have married the poetic forms of the sonnet and a following short poem. A story is told in the sonnet. The short poem offers a commentary or counterpoint to the sonnet - the combined poems have two endings. The meaning is direct - I want people to understand clearly. Metaphors are inspired by Shakespeare, the (aimed-for) precision imitates the Japanese. Mixing the sonnet with the tanka and haiku combines the sensibility of the Occident and the Orient - as I have done by living in America, England, and Japan.




"Tekkan" is the dharma name I was given. I use Zen mediation to make poetry of ordinary events. Tekkan means, Iron Man, a settled practitioner of great determination.