July 9th, 2012
Link • Audio, Poems, Tributes • 2 Comments
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Sam Hamill
ON BEING INVITED TO SUBMIT POEMS “WRITTEN IN THE MANNER OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE MOUNTAIN RECLUSE POETS”
From my windows on this hill,
Fidalgo Bay, green islands, pale blue sky
and, far off, Koma Kulshan, crowned
with icy snow—first and only words
I know in the Lummi tongue.
Thirty-five years in the woods,
watching the tree-trunks thicken.
And now this view, this vision.
–from Rattle #36, Winter 2011
Tribute to Buddhist Poets
I like Koma Kulshan (the sounds, not the place).
sam, “i’ve “known” you for so many years in so many ways i hold your move from port townsend to anacortes in my heart. i have a simple sense of your reasons for your move and am touched by whatever the reasons are.
you can see lummi island from where you are. i’ve been here for 32 years, a gorgeous, mostly rural island … whose rural authenticity fades with insignificant suburban pressures. but this island, the surrounding salish sea, the arc of ice peaks to the east and north, the deep moon sky … when clouds don’t blanket us, or toss gauze clouds across our lives, my life, this place is holy because of the dao presence of natural life. the zen breath of life here.
i fret a bit about you there in anacortes and want you to consider arriving on this island to explore possibilities for home, and life. lummi island is accessed by a small, old 22+/- county ferry. the island is quiet and beautiful. i’m 74 years old, with amazing stories about life … my life, all life … as you do … and the simpleness of life here allows folks like you and i to just simply be.
i’m poor. i haven’t had a car for a year and a half. my high school football knees are begging for relief … still, each evening i sit in a rocker by glass doors and watch life breathe near me. i drink scotch, cheap stuff …. wishing that i had islay single malt … but i live quietly in all of the ways that life can be beautiful …
you don’t need to respond to this email, sam. come visit if you like. my home is clumsy but adequate for visitors who don’t mind daoist beds. be well, and safe, and happy, and holy …
don vv ( the kids on the island called me “puff” because, with my white hair and beard, i look like a dandelion puff.)