Still Running in Circles

It may appear, yet again, that nothing is going on over here, but nothing could be further from the truth. Well, actually, it’s closer to the truth than I’d like to admit, but I’ve been doing lots of things, so many things that I haven’t had time to do what I usually do, read poetry.

Even that’s not quite true, as I’m currently reading Red Pine’s translation of The Zen Works of Stonehouse. The problem is that he’s packed so many poems on a single page that I haven’t managed to finish the first section yet and don’t feel I should comment until I’ve done so. Thankfully, part of the problem is that I’ve liked so many of the poems that I’ve been reading slower than usual. Once I’ve finished the first 184 poems, I’ll have more to say.

When I finish Stonehouse, I’ll return to Buson and Basho, ending this summer precisely where I began, hopefully with a greater appreciation and understanding of their poetry. It somehow seems appropriate that I should end the summer precisely where I began it, yin and yang perfectly balanced.

As well it should be, since the only real constants in my life this summer have been my daily walks, which have kept me firmly grounded, and my weekly Tai Chi classes which have helped me maintain my equilibrium.

Strangely enough, my comments today on Mike Snider’s site about Whitman’s “When I heard the learned astronomer” and a poem that Mike had written caused me to remember a long-forgotten, but beloved, film that Mike reminded me was called The Power of Ten.

With the title in hand, I made a quick search of the net which led to me to their site and, not surprisingly, to order a DVD of the film, not to mention a CD that seems to explore the same concepts in much more depth. Once there, I had to spend some time to explore this fascinating site and check out the fantastic number of links to similar concepts.

Strangely enough, following the site’s links to fractals, a concept I mentioned on Mike’s site, led me to this, which in turn led me to this, explaining, of course, why I spend much of my summer focusing on Taoism and Tai Chi.

2 thoughts on “Still Running in Circles”

  1. Well, nothing is always going on, isn’t it?

    Thank you for that intriguing set of links. I have vague memories of watching Powers of 10 (or some such similar production) as a much younger child, and being totally floored by the production. I hadn’t thought about it until a few weeks ago, when I ran across a unique meditation on Stuart Davis’s blog. (http://stuartdavis.com/blog/552?from=14) And now to have it show up here, complete with a Taoist connection . . . It’s a strange little world.

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