White on Black – A Memorial Poem by CatherineStenzel
As you read my most recent poem, you may feel cultural vertigo, and with good reason. The poem includes one Eastern nation, Japan, the Indigenous Nations of North America, and one continent, North America. I’ve attempted to interweave “voices” from these three between the lines and in the stanzas. The poem’s tapestry focuses on what Buddhists call “the great matters” – life and death. Not an either/or view. Not a one-is-good, and the other-is-bad perspective. Rather, the Middle Way of neither-for-nor-against.
White on Black
All in white, meeting at the dark crossroads
Snowy Owl swoops over mouse
Black Wolf midnight ears stand to hear the hunter coming
Northern Pine Snake shrouds black strike, coils asleep
Black Bear lumbers to the winter den
White Cat chases black-spotted dog unknowing
San
Star-net binds dark matter in silver
Impossible black Tiger Lily flaunts white petals
Child draws dark stars on white paper
Black music notes flow on stiff white paper
Carbon eye of the diamond
Pinpoint of light in a Bat’s eye
Sun creates white moon
Moon-shadow embraces sun
Dusk turned dark
Ni
Sacred Fuji-san’s snow cap supported by shadows
Inked shodo brush sweeps across ryoshi paper
100-year-old ink stick finds daylight
Black on white sutra with no name
Ichi
Quivering on the boundary
black and white just the same
just a Snow Leopard watching above
just an ivory Tiger’s black stripes below
just black diamonds on a moon-watching night
Black Dragon weeps white tears
Background
At the middle and at the end of last month, my much-loved teacher, an Issei (first generation Japanese who emigrated to North and to South America), honored his mother’s and his grandfather’s passing in a traditional Japanese memorial, the 58th for his grandfather, and the 2nd for his mother. These two ancestors were more than relatives. They (and several others) bequeathed to my teacher the lineage of a samurai clan, the preservation of Japanese culture and traditions, and because my teacher’s family cared for, administered to, and lived on the grounds of a Buddhist temple, with a long history on that path, as well as a long line of Buddhist priests. My teacher is the Keimogi, the lineage holder, for his samurai family, a Shingon Buddhist priest, and the holder of a 7th degree black belt in Aikido, authorized by the Aikido Foundation (Hombu Dojo) in Tokyo.
I am familiar with the Japanese custom of honoring ancestors, especially memorials of the date of death, a practice diametrically opposed to the Western observance of birthdays. Birthday celebrations could be interpreted as counting the years headed for death. In contrast, the Japanese annual remembrance of those who have passed on counts the years past the sufferings of this existence and the number of years – well that’s a good question because not all Eastern religions and spiritual paths believe in reincarnation or even a life after death. Some do but drawing conclusions about the memorial tradition is complicated.
Exploration 1: The numerals one, two, three are respectively ichi, ni, san, in Japanese. They are related to a number of things. Please offer your interpretation of their place in the poem. Why are the number sequence three, two, one, rather than one, two, three?
Exploration 2: What do you make of the relationship expressed in the proximity and pairing of “black” and “white” in the poem?
Exploration 3: Who is the “Black Dragon”?
ReplyDeleteLike many of your poems, this one is filled with images. It’s a picture more than a narrative, though the reader could create a story from the images.
There’s the introduction filled with hunters. The bear is sleepy, not hungry.
The number 3, 2, 1 don’t fall into any easily discernible pattern. Three seems to be about creation. Two describe a painting of Mt. Fuji. And one could be the verge of the dissolution of the world. “3-2-1...we have ignition “
Mr. Chairman, as usual, your insights are sparkling, esp. your interpretation of 321 which as you suggest could be the end of the world; however, perhaps knowing the context of the poem - a mother dying - another interpretation could be birth - life - death - implied zero. The "Black Dragon" has particular significance but would only be clear if one knew "the rest of the story" = the death of a mother. Perhaps I should have placed some words at the top like, "On the passing of a mother" That might have helped.
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