Friday, October 06, 2023

Just Observing in Chrysanthemum Time




mums flowering, 
zinnias seeding--
   just wondering


“Plucking chrysanthemums along the West fence. 
Gazing in silence at the East Cascade foothills. 
The Canada geese flying in formation overhead, 
Through the soft valley air of 
morning―
In these things there is a deep meaning, 
But when we are about to express it, 
We suddenly forget the words.”  

- My rephrasing of lines from an unknown Chinese poet
from verses found in 'The Wisdom of Insecurity,’ by Alan Watts, 1951.  


A Gardener's Pictorial Memories

The Spirit of Gardening 


"I search and can't find myself. 
I belong in chrysanthemum time, 
Sharp in calla lilly elongations.
God made my soul
Into an ornamental thing."
-  Fernando Pessoa


The Last Second of Summer

The bare branches of an old shrub
Above its fallen scarlet leaves─
Emptiness or forms? 
Chrysanthemums in full bloom
Below clear blue skies─
Forms and emptiness? 

The first second of autumn,
The last second of summer─

Neither Forms nor Emptiness,
The spaces of past time,
The realms of dead minds;
Or, bereft of Space and Time,
The Singularity of the Big Bang Sublime. 
 
-  Mike Garofalo, Autumn Poems
   Mabon, 9/22/2020

   Reading the The Heart Sutra from the Buddhist scriptures.



"If all meanings could be adequately expressed in words, 

the arts of painting and music would not exist."
-  John Dewey

Pragmatism and American Philosophy


"A chrysanthemum by any other name would be easier to spell."
-  William J. Johnston


Haiku Poems by Mike Garofalo

Pulling Onions (Over 888 Quips and Sayings) by Mike Garofalo









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