Kavita #332 (new poem)

Tim Kavi's Celestial Typists

Kavita #332

by Tim Kavi

the monkey runs around

laughing

his pursuers slip on

banana peels

and peach pits

are left glimmering in the sun

he is Sun Wukong

or Hanuman laughing

playing

tickling the underarms

until sages are almost

annoyed

the place is the jungle

22 celestial typists

type randomly

until all the names of God

are listed

quite by accident

until the paper is expelled

a well meaning sage

wanders by

almost blinded by the whiteness

of the page

he reads with wonder

and nods his head

a cosmic explosion follows

 

an old man buys his young

granddaughter ice cream

she smiles

he remembers when grand papa

did the same for him

he smiles

the nearby crows

hope the cone is dropped

on the way home 

through the park

another child swings

and plays with balloons

life goes on.

Little David and the Dancing Monkey (Story Poem)

Little David and the Dancing Monkey

by Tim Kavi

when across the eddying

spheres of time

there is an existence in

a moment

between young and old

is it the generations

talking?

or just me myself

longing for something I knew

or making sense of what

I am taught

the clever young minstrel did sing

and dance

doing battles for the great

and good

on a journey to the West

Are you me?

The minstrel asked.

No, I am Sun Wukong.

I use my skills

like this...swoosh swoosh

swoosh!

I see! Said the minstrel

preparing his stringed

instrument

I am named after you, though

I am your nephew

Little David

Uncle David smiled

chuckled

and said: You were dancing

quite a bit

let me sing you a song

while you rest

Oh? You play the guitar!

My father told me

Oh, what a treat!

It is my own Journey to the West

while my guitar gently weeps

playing notes of blest or blast

roaring like a stratocaster

but please be calmed

and like a David and his harp

soon the notes filled the air

with sweet sounds

of poetry flying there

the young Sun Wukong

could not stop himself

he danced and twirled

like some Dervishes

from another place

"I can tell you are a legend

You should never settle for less

hang on to the skirt of existence

such preciousness in Guan Yin

rises to meet you

and bless"

Uncle David did sing!

while the prettiest sounds

that little boy

ever heard

the Fender did bring

and when the song ended

the little dancer

that Monkey King

had tears in his eyes

Oh Uncle David!

You sing so nice.

Thank you so much!

Uncle David smiled

No problem, he said

at that moment

Little David's father

entered the room

Father! Father!

Uncle David sang me a song

and played his guitar

You were right!

Yes son, life is great

art and love

and family and truth

are all around us

to Uncle, father said

Thank you!

It's great to see you!

Uncle David smiled

Father said

Little David's mother

had prepared

an evening meal

a supper for a dancing monkey

a skilled minstrel

a poet father

two brothers

and a clever child

Father??

Yes son?

After supper

may I show Uncle David

my moves

with my monkey stick?

Yes son,

but please be careful

you can put an eye out

with that thing!

everyone laughed.

My Love's Ashes (new poem)

My Love's Ashes
by Tim Kavi

when in the signs of Winter's thaw
I journeyed with the monks then
the snow is melting
empties into the river
flows into the sea.

life is neverending,
it flows and flows
changing forms
constantly reborn.

a butterfly
a new sun in the cosmic dust
a flower peeks through
the dirt, in the sun's loving touch.

I carry your ashes my dear
the crying nearly stops
in fact, the monks look like jumping
gazelles dancing on the mountain path
ducking between lillies and rocks
on the winding road.

where is that silly Sun
Wukong? Stealing peaches again
or laughing
until slapped by Kwan Yin?

The wind is picking up
my ears hear the calling sounds
memories of your sweet voice
I love you, my love
always singing my eternal choice.

the valley of Dunhuang
tombs cannot hold you there
for we shall paint you
on the wall, previously bare.

my tears fall
like your ashes into the paint
the monks are master mixers
in the puzzles that life brings.

on the wall they paint
Shadows and Dreams of you
in the cave of Mogao
burning incense songs to you.

I am silent now
praising you, the Goddess
revealed in the fresh
painting
I seek you again
there is no more flesh
I am seeing that remembered
smiling face
always, in your soul's embrace.

afterword: always remembering that all is sunyata.~~TK

a reader asks?

A Reader Asks About the Poem 'longing'

Upon reading one of my poems ("longing"), a reader asked a question--

"longing"

longing to kiss you and hold you
ever to stand
against the long wind
we will always stand together
our hearts beat together as one.

gentle breath of the goddess
you seek me out and shine
when in the eternal recurrence divine
you make me glad to be thine.

longing to see you and behold
your gentle saving grace
I see you face to face
in the sacred place.

there is no shadow of retreat
only the openness
where all is known
truly met by you, my sweet.

Reader "Winter" wrote:

Hi,Tim Kavi, I'm glad again to meet with your poem. and you spoke of Kwan yin, is she a statue in Buddhism? You regard women as Kwan yin. It seems that Kwan yin, inyour heart, is very holy,I think.

"your gentle saving grace",in this sentence,"saving" means "besides"?Have a nice week Winter:)

Hi Winter:

Thank you. yes this poetic form is an encounter with the archetypal feminine--captured perhaps by Kuan Yin and Ma Durga-- it is a poem to the goddess--something which is part of the sacred feminine--I believe the anima that Carl Jung spoke of--and all women (and men to an extent) have it.

oh, yes, there are statues of her in Buddhism as Avalokiteshvara, and she is mentioned in the tale of the Monkey King as well.

you asked: "your gentle saving grace",in this sentence,"saving" means "besides"? my usage of "saving" here means to be rescued, or to be saved from danger or peril, perhaps from a corrupt masculine nature. To be made safe from is what saving means. There is also a Christian notion of redemption in saving as an act of salvation, but that usage is not what I meant in a complete sense, but it captures it a bit.

I do believe that all men are wise to know the importance of women and that their folly may indeed be "saved" by the woman's wisdom! heheheheh :-)

Have a happy day!

Tim Kavi