I have written poems ever since my college days. It is hard to say why. I never thought of myself as a poet. It was just something I have been drawn to do. It has been a way to clarify questions. It has been a way to share with other people, to give a poem as a small gift or a wish for well being. It has sometimes just been fun to do.

I live in a rural place and so many of my poems are filled with images of the forests, streams, mountains and valleys around me. The drama, life and activity of this natural world is intimately connected with the drama, life and activity of the human-constructed world. Thus many of the poems either directly or indirectly express this also.

Over the years, I found more and more images, phrases and ideas from my Zen studies creeping into the poems.  When I decided to make a collection of the poems that had accrued over the years, it followed naturally to tie this collection in a more explicit way with Zen practice.  I chose thirteenth century Japanese Zen Master Eihei Dogen’s “Genjo Koan” as the focus.  I broke this work down into about eighty sequential phrases and have used each phrase as a springboard for a poem.  This is not a commentary on the “Genjo Koan”. That is done better by professors and Zen teachers.  Rather, this is a reflection of the way each of the individual phrases resonated with me.

As such, it is a simply a collection of poems by a fellow who lives in Northern New England.  You don’t need to know anything about Dogen or Zen or even be interested in that to read and hopefully enjoy these poems.  If you are interested in the Buddhist connection, that will enhance your experience of them.