One Character Poem
by He Peiyu, female poet of the Qing Dynasty 

A flower, a willow, a fishing rock,
A streak of setting sun, a bird in flight.
A mountain, a stream, a Zen temple,
A forest of yellow leaves, a monk returns.

Marie Bortolotto Art

One-Line Poem-Image
Marie Bortolotto

trudging through 
the weight of wet snow 
birds in flight 

Marie Bortolotto Art

 
1/ Flower

Dreams are severed fruit
Auburn pears have fallen in the field
Parsley blooms on the plate
The leghorn at times seems to have six fingers
I crack the egg and the moon comes out



2/ It Is Snowing

Upstairs from us, a grand ball! 

Devious angels dance in disorder, and out of their steps fall shards of deathly white snow. 

Death is among the holly leaves. Crawling quietly in the attic.
Gnawing at my finger. Anxiously. And then at midnight—it falls at the storefront of the glass shop, exposing its stark white back. 

Old love and time are buried, and the earth devours them. 

 

--by Chika Sagawa (1911 - 1936) Japanese Modernist Poet 

(from The Collected Poems of Chika Sagawa 
translated by Sawako Nakayasu) 

Chika Sagawa says: 

I believe poetry is the study of language. Unlike spoken language, it is a language of the heart, not visible from the surface. It is the filling of the air with words selected out of deep contemplation. Not a gathering of the meanings of words spoken to be spoken, but an attempt to say something, or to reflect something. Very sparse and most strict, it is a skillfulness right on the brink of burning out like a flame.
          - "When Passing Between Trees" 

Marie Bortolotto Art

"Thoughts of the Heart"  Marie Bortolotto Art 2026

Today I am inspired by the Paracelsus quote in James Hillman's book "The Thought of The Heart And The Soul of The World" (Spring Publications 1992):

Speech is not of the tongue, but of the heart. 
The tongue is merely the instrument with which one speaks. 
He who is dumb is dumb in his heart, not in his tongue...
As you speak, so is your heart.

Paracelsus (1493-1541) 

 

I'll be honest, although I like this quote I have trouble with the word "dumb" -- it's just not the best word for our modern age. And what about the pronoun "he?" Are only "he's" dumb? I would like to replace dumb with the word "mindless" instead. And "he" with "those."

So my revision will read like this... I hope Paracelsus doesn't mind!:

Speech is not of the tongue, but of the heart. 
The tongue is merely the instrument with which one speaks. 
Those who are mindless are mindless in their hearts, not in their tongues...
As one speaks, so is one's heart.

Paracelsus (1493-1541) 

 

Marie Bortolotto Art 2026

 
Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto

cold sunshine
the persistent tweets
of a solitary sparrow

Instruments of a Beating Heart by Ema Ryan Yamazaki on Vimeo

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto

 

all that remains
of a child's clarinet practice
ode to joy 

A haiku book in progress...

Haiku in the Time of Winterberries
by Marie Bortolotto

Haiku Sketches: 
300 One Line Zen-Inspired Poems

Available now on Amazon!

 

Under the trees, among the rocks, a thatched hut:
verses and sacred commentaries live their together.
I'll burn the books I carry in my bag,
but how can I forget the verses written in my gut?

-- Ikkyu 

Marie Bortolotto

 

Haiku Sketches ©
by Marie Bortolotto


300 One-Line Zen-Inspired Poems

Available Now on Amazon! 

Haiku Sketches © by Marie Bortolotto

Artist Marie Bortolotto takes us on a mindful stroll through her portfolio of haiku sketches as she follows in the footsteps of renowned Japanese poet, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). Shiki is best known for his efforts to modernize haiku poetry, especially his idea of shasei or “sketch from life” where he encouraged poets to look at the world, as an artist does with a sketchbook, observing and expressing what they see in everyday life with fresh eyes. Each haiku sketch in this collection offers a window into meditation, inspiring us to open the eyes of the heart and find poetry in the ordinary.

 

A few excerpts from Haiku Sketches © :

resting on a vintage garden chair dead leaves

autumn’s decline even the bindweed sheds its glory

atop melted snow a red scarf and a carrot

slowly a beetle crawls across the sidewalk

Paperback, approx. 110 pages


Marie Bortolotto is a visual artist and poet. In early years she travelled extensively, both as an airline employee and a humble backpacker. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and worked for many years in complementary healthcare. Currently she lives in Vancouver, Canada.
 

consider me
as one who loved poetry
and persimmons

- Masaoka Shiki (1867 - 1902)

Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto Art

One Line Poem
by Marie Bortolotto


yellow leaves raining down empty swings

The Meaning of Existence (2002)
by Les Murray

Everything except language
knows the meaning of existence.
Trees, planets, rivers, time
know nothing else. They express it
moment by moment as the universe.

Even this fool of a body
lives it in part, and would
have full dignity within it
but for the ignorant freedom
of my talking mind.

 One Line Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto 

dried leaf fading between pages red

One Line Haiku Poem
by Marie Bortolotto


morning the pine tree bereft of whispers

 
from Birds. Art. Life. by Kyo MacLear

 

"...except this simple secret:

if you listen to birds, everyday will have a song in it." 

Everything just as it is,
just as it is,
as it is,
as is.  
Flowers in bloom.
Nothing to add.

- Robert Aitken. 

Marie Bortolotto

1/

You are not a separate being. 
You belong to the living body of Earth. 
You are the Earth, looking up at the stars. 
You are the Earth, becoming conscious of itself.” 

2/

To see all life as holy rescues us from loneliness 
and the sense of futility that comes with isolation. 
The sacred becomes part of every encounter when 
you open to it and let it receive your full attention. 
I don’t have to go to Chartres Cathedral to be in 
the presence of the Divine. It is right here. This 
understanding is essential for facing collapse and 
living in this time. This means that our sorrow is sacred, too. 
Within us all is grief for what is happening to our world…
That’s because I belong. That’s because I am part of the 
sacred living body of Earth.

– Joanna Macy (1929 - 2025)

Marie Bortolotto Art

Marie Bortolotto Art

 

One-Line Zen-Like Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

dandelion gone to seed, she makes a wish

  

Marie Bortolotto Art

Marie Bortolotto Art

 
"Your laughter will open a thousand and one
roses within you."

- Osho

Marie Bortolotto Art

“Since everything is but an apparition,
having nothing to do with good or bad,
acceptance or rejection, one may well
burst out in laughter."

― Longchenpa

Marie Bortolotto

From Toshi Tsuchitori: Breath (1980)

One-Line Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto


just a single daffodil surrounded by mud

Marie Bortolotto 2025

 

 

Sound art installations by Zimoun

Field of Flowers by Daniel Schmidt & Paul Dresher

from The Confucian Anelects

The Master said, "What a fine man Hui was!"
One container of rice, one dipperful of drink,
living in a back alley -- others couldn't have endured
the gloom of it but Hui never let it affect his happiness.
What a fine man Hui was!"

Marie Bortolotto

 

 

Marie Bortolotto