Poem: "wadding"
This poem came out of a long thread in which the_vulture, siege, and marina_bonomi discussed tricksters, Buddhism, and paper magic. It was sponsored by marina_bonomi. This poem belongs to the Origami Mage series; you can find the other poems in that series via the Serial Poetry page on my website.
You can find "If You Love, Love Openly" and other koans on the Zen Koans page. I've always loved koans. Some of them have an obvious answer or connection. Others are more subtle, with many layers to unfold. This is one of the subtle ones.
wadding
origami mage
and kirigami mage were
having a bad day
everything they tried
to make came out wrong somehow --
crumple, snag, and rip
a monk stopped to watch
them work beside the road and
glare at each other
he asked them: what is
the sound of one crease folding?
but they just grumbled
he told the koan
of the nun Eshun and her
shy admirer
then he said to them:
if you love, love openly
as a buddha loves
but if you hate, then
wad it all up and throw it
over your shoulder
paper must be clean
otherwise emotions get
in the way of art
two rivals looked at
each other, wadded up their
work, and walked away