Nine Gates

I've been reading Nine Gates, Entering the Mind of Poetry by Jane Hirshfield. She has a strong interest in Japanese poetry and though this prose poem is not by a Japanese, it illustrates an idea, a specific dimension of Japanese poetry, she is writing about.

Here's the link to the Wiki article about Robert Haas.

MFH - Albuquerque

The line in Waiting For Godot, "It's a Carrot" served, for many years, as a koan whose meaning was: It is what it is.

All the while I interpreted the scene as Beckett's sarcastic poke at homophobes. The critics frequently made reference to it in metaphorical terms of Vladimir's balls (testes) and the carrot as his dick. I imagined Beckett muttering: "Stupid buttheads! They read too much Freud."

My sister embroidered this bandana 45 years ago.

Over time the carrot morphed into The Prime Motivator...as in when dangled, on a schtick-und-schtring, in front of a mule. I discarded the stick and enjoyed the metaphor. The phrase "It's a Carrot" became the acronym IAC. And in those days, when the gallery was going strong, Contemporary Art was my Prime Motivator -- compelling me to LEAP from bed (with enthusiasm) each morning.

Ms. Cook found this SPLENDID robe -- and t-shirt -- online. 

Not ALL my stubbornness is genetic; I AM a Capricorn.

At the Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital after the angioplasty.

Tinsel & Carrots, Oh My!

About Poetry
from:  Nine Gates  by Jane Hirshfield

Look Here.