green moss–
all the way to my lap
spring’s rainbow ~Issa*
Leica V-Lux 5: f/4 1/2500 s 10.1 mm 125 ISO
*cited: http://www.haikuguy.com “love note to Planet Earth. Spring’s dazzling colors touch and include Issa. He gazes and realizes: I am (we are) part of this glory!f”
“As the ink flows onto the page,
each word creating and tumbling into another,
she wonders aloud to no one in particular,
‘are these sleeping memories
left in the shadows of grief …
writing on and on
this tale and that …
moving my pen across the page ...
as if a bridge to yesterday?'”
Even into the mind always clouded with grief,
There is cast the reflection of the bright moon.
~Lady Sarashina ( Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
In this world
the living grow fewer,
the dead increase–
how much longer must I
carry this body of grief?
Ono no Komachi (J Hirshfield & M AratanI, The Ink Dark Moon)
carving aged faces
sunset by sunset – whitening streaked hair
days of yesterdays
Delicate … the dance
of light and shadow
between insight and ignorance
in life and death
from suffering to tranquility
May you become acquainted with tranquil single-pointed concentration . . . those who seek wisdom through the lens of tranquility glimpse reality in the same manner as a lighted candle — the light chases away that which is hidden within the shadows of a darken closet. Insight, once risen, shines light into closed hearts and minds and keeps the gloom of ignorance at bay
Ritva Sillanmaki invites lens-artists photographers to “see beyond the surface” and “focus on the shapes, colors, textures, and patterns of the subject, rather than its literal representation.”
Some of the images below were created through the use of double exposure, shutter speed, focus, light and shadow, and gift of nature’s beauty.
If I say
this or that,
how ordinary grief becomes –
broken cries are the words
that sorrow’s voice demands
~Izumi Shikibu*
*cited:
The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: J Hirshfield & M Aratani
How peaceful is
Every single dawn;
I gaze out, yet
Still in the depths of night
I dream…a grief, indeed.
~Princess Shokushi*
A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn [ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (plural càirn [ˈkʰaːrˠɲ]).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of which contained chambers). In the modern era, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains. Cairns are also used as trail markers. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate megalithic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons.
A variant is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America.*
*cited: Wikipedia
Video of Erin building a cairn submitted in response to Donna @ WindKisses’ lens-artists challenge: rock your world
…and may we in that moment of “external” silence also hear a peaceful quiet within
Fujifilm X-T4: f/2.4 1/2500s 60mm 160 ISO
“The sight of the leaves ever reminds me strangely of my own sadness. I cannot go within, but lie on the veranda; mayhap my end is not far off. I feel a vague anger that others are in comfortable sleep and cannot sympathize with me. Just now I hear the faint cry of a wild goose.* Others will not be touched by it, but I cannot endure the sound.
How many nights, alas!-
Sleepless-
Only the calls of the wild geese-
~The Diary of Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
*Footnote within the Diary of Court Ladies of Old Japan notes that the “wild geese visit Japan in Autumn and fly away northwards in the early spring. They are never alone, and their cries calling to each other make the solitary woman feel loneliness more keenly.”
a meditative journey 
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