Short Verse

and ascribed to Basho...

For one who says,
"I am tired of children,"

there are no blossoms.


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Marie Bortolotto

 Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

the end
of the day
what remains?



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The Door
by Miroslav Holub
 

Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.

Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.

Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.

 Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

morning meditation
sweeping away
 dead leaves

Marie Bortolotto Art

 
Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

1

all the leaves are gone
the traveller ponders
arrivals and departures


2


surprise!
the mute panhandler
unleashes his voice

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

ray of sunshine
the little girl opens
a yellow umbrella

poetry in the wordless

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

vacant home
poetry hides from
shuttered eyes

 

 

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

1

after the storm
raindrops fall from
the weeping willow




2

pigeons on the wire
trying in my way
to be free



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Leonard Cohen, Bless you for all the poetic
utterances you left behind for us to hear!

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

I.

children
out for a walk
lots of laughs



II.

the way home
only the traveller
meets children

and by Basho...

 

 

The moon and sun are travellers through eternity. Even the years wander on.
Whether drifting through life on a boat or climbing toward old age leading a horse,
each day is a journey and the journey itself is home.

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

 

tin porch bells
only the traveller hears
a symphony of goats

A symphony of goats!


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Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

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I.

where are the cats?
a pussy willow sprouts
new buds



II.

no more gloom
a snowy mountain peak
rises above

Toshi Tsuchitori - Playing prehistoric music in the Cougnac Caves, France.

Art by Marie Bortolotto 2024

 

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

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I.

bitter wind
a chrysanthemum bud
opens its petals

Toshi Tsuchitori (aka Toshi Tsuchitori)
Ancient Japanese Bells from Yayoi Period

Tsuchitori Toshiyuki (土取 利行, b. 1950) is a Japanese multi-instumentalist,
music historian and ethnomusicologist

 

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

1

chilly morning
I'm reminded of Rengetsu's
poem of gratitude

Marie Bortolotto

 

                                                                  La harpe de melodie

 

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

1

even in sickness
beauty befriends us
Shiki's gift



2 

a friend in need
the mute man
always waves

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

bedtime story
listening to the romance of
Nishimura's flute

Koku Nishimura Shakuhachi

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Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

Visit "Imaginal Utterances Website"

I.

wondering
where are the cats
autumn pussy willows

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

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I.

vacant property
is the old woman
gone?



II.

voiceless person
what is the story
yet to be told?

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

I.

needing
a good cry
Pavarotti




II.

forever, Pavarotti
serenades the silence
mom and dad's grave

Luciano Pavarotti - Ave Maria 1978

Luciano Pavarotti: "O Sole Mio"

"O Sole Mio" Lyrics:

Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole,
n’aria serena doppo na tempesta!
Pe’ ll’aria fresca pare già na festa...
Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole.

Chorus:

Ma n’atu sole cchiù bello, oi ne’,
’o sole mio sta nfronte a te!
’o sole, ’o sole mio
sta nfronte a te, sta nfronte a te!

Lùceno ’e llastre d’’a fenesta toia;
’na lavannara canta e se ne vanta
e pe’ tramente torce, spanne e canta,
lùceno ’e llastre d’’a fenesta toia.

Quanno fa notte e ’o sole se ne scenne,
me vene quasi ’na malincunia;
sotto ’a fenesta toia restarria
quanno fa notte e ’o sole se ne scenne.

English translation:

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
The air is serene after a storm,
The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

Chorus:

But another sun, even more beauteous, oh my sweetheart,
My own sun, shines from your face!
This sun, my own sun,
Shines from your face; It shines from your face!

Your window panes shine;
A laundress is singing and boasting about it;
And while she’s wringing the clothes, hanging them up to dry, and singing,
Your window panes shine.

When night comes and the sun has gone down,
I almost start feeling melancholy;
I’d stay below your window
When night comes and the sun has gone down.

 Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024


I.

breaking open
the panhandler
smiles

Marie Bortolotto Art

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Kyotaku/Koku Nishimura 虚空 / 西村虚空

Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto 2024


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waiting
to be heard
haiku

Marie Bortolotto Art

Gad Tidhar

Faran Ensemble

 

Marie Bortolotto Artist 2024

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Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024 

 

I.

where are they from?
nighttime haiku
keep me awake


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Short Verses - Clock Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto 2024 

 

I.

listening
the clock's ticking
comes and goes



II.

The heart has its reasons,
which reason does not know.
We know truth, not only by the reason,
but also by the heart.

- Blaise Pascal

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Kassia - Byzantine Hymns from the first female composer of the Medieval Occident

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Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2024 

 

I.

walking
in the rain
chatty sparrow



II.

Remembrance Day
at the playground
empty swings

Poem II for Shakuhachi Solo (1972) · Nanae Yoshimura
Composer: Teizo Matsumura


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Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2024 

 

I.

bare-boned tree
trembling in the wind
leafy skeletons



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Marie Bortolotto Art

Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

astray
wandering far
from home


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Marie Bortolotto

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024 

 

I.

yellowed leaf
plunging to the ground
soundlessness



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Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

I.

Flowers Still Bloom

after loss
flowers still bloom
after politics
flowers still bloom
after sickness
flowers still bloom
after winter
flowers still bloom
after floods
flowers still bloom
after war
flowers still bloom
after death
flowers still bloom
after wildfires
flowers still bloom
after ruin
flowers still bloom
after all
flowers still bloom



II.

small change
person in need
expects more


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Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

I.

on this
sun-blessed autumn day
the sky, a cloudless blue
and fragrant is the wind
with golden leaves, free-falling
stars of light
how is it
only children
remember to play?

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Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

I.

youthful folly
the end of daylight
saving time


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Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

1

bicycle wheels
squeaking
broken record

2

topiary art
an umbrella
open-armed

3

gas fumes
breathing in
and out

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Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

Marie Bortolotto Digital Art

I.

peaceful dreams
under siege
Halloween fireworks



II.

fifty dollars
the panhandler
shares his joy



III.

the unsheltered person earning his keep   cold hands




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