One-Line Haiku Poem
by Marie Bortolotto


morning the ol’ 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

Haiku Utterances
by Marie Bortolotto


300 Zen-Inspired One-Line Poems to Liberate the Imaginal Heart
 
Purchase your copy here!

Haiku Utterances by Marie Bortolotto

In this book by artist and poet Marie Bortolotto, we're invited to slow down and attune to the poetic utterances that speak to us and through us from the heart of existence. Dropping the rules of traditional Japanese haiku, she writes in a free verse style that reflects ordinary day-to-day experiences. Most of the poems in this collection were gathered during daily walks while she was recovering from a lengthy illness. At first one may consider them too simplistic or insignificant, but once they seep into our hearts our eyes can see a depth of beauty found in the present moment.

Haiku Utterances encourages us to cultivate an imaginal way of seeing by listening to the haiku utterances in our own lives.

A few excerpts from Haiku Utterances:

   pinned to the sidewalk white paper butterfly

have you stopped to say hello little sparrow

fragrance of emptiness in her hand a tiny flower

all frogs on the tree stump gone! except one

Paperback, 110 pages

"Follow your inner moonlight.
Don't hide the madness."

~ Allen Ginsberg, American Poet & Writer 1926 - 1997

Marie Bortolotto Art

 

"At this moment, only does my life exist."

- Dōgen Zenji, Zen Buddhist monk, writer, poet, philosopher,
and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.

Marie Bortolotto 2025

      Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2025



long way home
just to see
 the snowy mountains

Marie Bortolotto Art 2025

    Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2025


no words
no thoughts, no one --
bird chatter

  Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2025



even in a hard cold rain black cat runs to greet me

Marie Bortolotto Art

   Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto 2025


I.

new year's morning
only the crows and i
walk about



II.

misty mountain
a buddha sits
facing traffic

Marie Bortolotto Art

  Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024



slower and slower
a woman walks
facing traffic

 Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024



neon Santa
no one pays attention
now

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto 2024



selling God
in the park, listening
to bird chatter

Christmas Day Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto 2024


shouting above the traffic noise an orange poppy

 

Marie Bortolotto Art

 

Howl Of Aliveness
by Marie Bortolotto 2024

in the morning
I open the door
go out, threadbare
into a raging wind

how to be alive?
no phone, no screens
no things that steal
the heart's affections

at the big park
a crow's caw
black squirrels whirl
in widening circles

above, a gull's cry
all the roses silent
beneath the weight
of winter's sleep

no wild animals, only
solemn remembrance
listening, the green, green
howl of aliveness

Marie Bortolotto Art

  

Marie Bortolotto Art 2024