Зимородок - стр. 8
Making sandwiches for the school lunchbox,
Submitting the quarterly forecast report,
Walking the dog,
Writing the thank you note.
At least, that is how it is
For some of us,
Some of the time.
We collect data about it,
Quantify the uncertainty
Of our measurements,
Publish papers in academic journals.
We put ironic quotation marks
Around its edges,
Take selfies.
We blaze with anger about what it is,
Emblazon on our banners
What we want it to be.
We split into tribes, go to war,
Mangle and kill each other
Under the pretext
That there is one right way,
One right answer to every question
About the definition
Of a pin, a dance, an angel;
About the way to count how many…
We beat our heads against it,
Search for the path, the mantra, the koan,
Meditate, keep diaries,
Create sand mandalas of great beauty,
Sweep all the colors together,
Let the river carry them away
As we fall into insanity,
Rise to enlightenment,
Or the other way around.
We pick it up like a toy, a ball.
We run across sunlit grass,
Laughing,
Tossing it back and forth.
We forget it in the gathering dusk
Under the lilac bushes.
It is time to go back in,
To get some sleep.
At least, that is how it is
For some of us,
Some of the time.
Constructivism
Proof by construction is the path
That God Himself has set in math.
To prove that chaos can be transformed
Into a world, the world was formed.
A choir of angels came to be
Singing: “Hosanna! QED!”
But man, a thing of clay and dust,
Had little wit and too much trust.
Soon he was fooled and led astray.
And we, his children, to this day
Remain a weak and bounded race.
Induction for the finite case
Is all we do, till in the end
Each one must meet the final N.
But there is yet a baser proof.
It’s branded by a fiery hoof.
Proof by negation seeks to alter
The very truth. And should you falter,
And in your pride or desperation
Seek to invoke the dark negation,
Repent! Or you should ever rue
Your “Let the opposite be true”.
Double Negative
It is like a sword that wounds, but cannot wound itself…
Zenrinkushu translated by R. Blyth
Nothing is certain.
Nothing can be guaranteed.
Not even nothing.
American Gothic
She dressed properly,
She spoke quietly,
She loved modestly,
She died peacefully.
Harmless, humble,
God's lamb…
Damn!
Supernova
Loss drives concealed love
To go supernova.
It blows its cover
With a flood of blinding light.
It bursts out,
Piercing space with rays of radiation.
It screams and screams,
Pressing hard against the walls of reality,
Pushing apart the boundaries
Of the universe.
Trees dreaming in winter
In deep winter the sleeping trees
Dream of branching out,