Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017


Noisy city -
I long for silence.

- Marie Bortolotto



Don't disturb me,
I'm writing poems to save myself
from silly poems.

- Marie Bortolotto



it's late.
The night is silent.
I sit alone,
listening for poems
that fly in the dark.

- Marie Bortolotto



the hungry city
encroaches on my dreams.
Where can they hide?

- Marie Bortolotto



the idleness
of a summer breeze -
moving shadows at my feet.

- Marie Bortolotto


Walking, walking, walking.
I escape the clickety clack of the city.

- Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

I’m on the trail to Cold Mountain.

Cold Mountain trail never ends.

Long clefts thick with rock and stones,

Wide streams buried in dense grass.

Slippery moss, but there’s been no rain,

Pine trees sigh, but there’s no wind.

Who can leap the world’s net,

Sit here in the white clouds with me?

- Han Shan, Cold Mountain, Chinese Hermit c. 800AD

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Someone criticized the Master of Cold Mountain: 

"Your poems make no sense at all."

"But from what I have read of the ancients,"

I said,

"They weren't ashamed to be poor and humble."

He laughed at my words and answered, 

"How can you talk such foolishness?" 

"Then go on, my friend, as you are today. 

Let money be your whole life for you!"

- Han-shan, Poet of Cold Mountain, Chinese Hermit c800AD

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Poem by Cold Mountain

If there’s something good, delight!

Seize the moment while it flies!

Though life can last a hundred years,

Who’s seen their thirty thousand days?

Just an instant then you’re gone.

Why sit whining over things?

When you’ve read the Classics through,

You’ll know quite enough of death.

Han-shan, c.800AD, Chinese Hermit, Poet at Cold Mountain

Marie Bortolotto 2017


Random Free Form Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto 2017



Perhaps I shall walk
all day?

- Marie Bortolotto



I'm not afraid
of silence.

- Marie Bortolotto 2017



Don't waste a moment
thinking.

- Marie Bortolotto



One crow searching for a worm.

- Marie Bortolotto



I long to roam.

- Marie Bortolotto



I don't know.
I just don't know.

- Marie Bortolotto



Is there some path I should be on?

- Marie Bortolotto




Have I lost my way?
Or is this the Way?

- Marie Bortolotto



Remember
to listen.

- Marie Bortolotto



A white hat.

- Marie Bortolotto


The clouds
have moved in.

- Marie Bortolotto



Where can I go?
...just keep walking.

- Marie Bortolotto


I wander
because I am free.

- Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Nothing is better than getting free
but freedom is not luck.

- Shiwu (Stonehouse) Zen Monk 14th c.

Marie Bortolotto 2017

This body's lifetime is like a bubble's

by Shiwu (Stonehouse) 14th C. Zen Monk Hermit

This body's lifetime is like a bubble's
may as well let things go
plans and events seldom agree
who can step back doesn't worry
we blossom and fade like flowers
we gather and part like clouds
earthly thoughts I forgot long ago
withering away on a mountain peak

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

To glorify the way what should people turn to
to words and deeds that agree
but oceans of greed never fill up
and sprouts of delusion keep growing
a plum tree in bloom purifies a recluse
a patch of potatoes cheers a lone monk
but those who follow rules in their huts
never see the way or get past the mountain

-  Shiwu (Stonehouse) 14th c. Zen Monk Hermit

Artwork by Marie Bortolotto 2017

Scorpion tails and wolf hearts overrun the world
everyone has a trick to get ahead
but how many smiles in a lifetime
how many moments of peace in a day
who knows a toppled cart means try another track
when trouble strikes there is no time for shame
this old monk isn't just talking
he's trying to remove your obstacles and chains

- Stonehouse, 14th Century Zen Monk Hermit

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Last Night As I Was Sleeping

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

- Antonio Machado, Spanish Poet 1875 - 1939

A Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

-Edgar Allan Poe, American Writer 1809 - 1849

Marie Bortolotto 2017


The Voice

There is a voice inside of you
that whispers all day long,
'I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.'
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
or wise man can decide
what's right for you - just listen to
the voice that speaks inside.

Shel Silverstein 

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Art by Marie Bortolotto 2017

I was silent all day,

Facing the sea, 

The tide came up.

- Taneda Santōka, Japanese Haiku Poet 1882 - 1940

"House of Transformation", Abstract Painting by Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto

"everything changes,

everything changes,

everything changes,

in the House of Transformation."

- M. Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

my heart is weary —

the mountains, the sea

are too beautiful

 - Santoka Taneda, Japanese Haiku Poet 1882 - 1940

Marie Bortolotto

“There is no verse in my life which
 is not a farewell poem.” - Basho

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017

Marie Bortolotto 2017


I shivered in those
solitudes
when I heard
the voice
of the salt
in the desert.

- Pablo Neruda

Marie Bortolotto 2016 

Marie Bortolotto 2016

Marie Bortolotto 2016

Marie Bortolotto 2016

Marie Bortolotto 2016

Marie Bortolotto 2016

Marie Bortolotto 2016



I love this poem:

The Way It Is

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

William Stafford, American Poet, 1914 - 1993