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Eyes of a Pilgrim Poet
A Book of Minimalist Poem-Images

by Marie Bortolotto

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Eyes of a Pilgrim Poet is a collection of contemporary minimalist haiku by visual artist and poet Marie Bortolotto. Dropping the rules of traditional Japanese haiku, she writes in a modern Western style to create tiny verses she refers to as poem-images. With a thirst for the holy matched by a keen eye, the pilgrim poet perceives a deeper reality hidden behind the ordinary. This book encourages readers to awaken the pilgrim poet within, training the mind to find poetry in the mundane and to honour the fleeting beauty and profound meaning in everyday moments.

Marie Bortolotto; is a visual artist and poet. In early years she travelled extensively, both as an airline employee and an ordinary backpacker. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and worked for many years in complementary healthcare. Currently residing in Vancouver Canada, she maintains a daily mindful walking practice.

...old song, same rhythms of aliveness that take me home...

 

Marie Bortolotto Art 2026

 

Marie Bortolotto Art 2026

 

Summer Solstice Zen Poems:

even if you consume as many books
as the sands of the ganges
it is not as good as catching
one verse of zen
if you want to know a secret
here it is: 
everything is in the heart

- Ryokan (1758 - 1831)

 

red light pause
a billboard tells us:

the present is a gift

- © M. Bortolotto 2026


summer tigers

tight green buds

burst into flames


- © M. Bortolotto 2026
 

Marie Bortolotto Artist

Marie Bortolotto

 

 

 

passing clouds
Chopin's sombre air
drifts out a window

~ poem-image 2026 M. Bortolotto

 I'm re-posting this story:

The Rainmaker

A story told by Richard Wilhelm, Chinese scholar and theologian to Carl Jung:

In the ancient Chinese province of Kiaochou there was a drought so severe that many people and animals were dying. All the religious leaders attempted to solicit relief from their gods: the Catholics made processions, the Protestants said their prayers, and the Chinese fired guns to frighten away the demons of the drought. Finally, out of desperation, the town’s people called upon the Rainmaker, and from a province far away there appeared a shriveled up, old man. The old man immediately requested a small hut on the outskirts of town, where he locked himself up for three days and nights in solitude, and then, on the fourth day, it rained. In fact, it snowed at a time when snow was not expected.

Wilhelm, who was allowed to interview the Rainmaker, asked him how he made the rain, and the old man responded by exclaiming that he did not make the rain, that he was not responsible! Not satisfied with this response, Wilhelm pressed on, “Then what did you do for these three days?” And the old man explained that he had come from another province where things were in order with nature, but here, in Kiaochou, things were out of order, and so he himself was also out of order. Thus, it took three days to regain "tao" and then naturally, the rain came.

Marie Bortolotto Art

 

 

city faces

symphony of buddhas

passing by

poem-image 
by Marie Bortolotto 2026

Art Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto Art -- spring blossoms -- mixed media on paper

© 2026 Marie Bortolotto

 

M. Bortolotto Art

 Faith's Hymm

 

soon demolished! 

house porch buddha
 laughs 
at day’s end

poem-image by Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto Art

singing to the Heart of Water 

Red Rain (by Peter Gabriel)

 
Do not say, “It is morning,” and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. 
See it for the first time as a new-born child that has no name.

~ Tagore (1861 - 1941)

 
"Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction."

~ Rumi

She Who

eyes of fish
, translucent

seeing through ourselves
she grows watery succulents
where thoughts once were

all around, ocean of air 
she who breathes through
ourselves, re-membering
imagination mirrored


~ M. Bortolotto

Image-Poem by Marie Bortolotto