"kuan" poems
*Apni Dhun Mein Rehta Hoon
Main Bhi Tere Jaisa Hoon*
**Roaming within my own tunes I am
O’ just like you I am**
*Oh Pichhlee Rut Ke Saathi
Abke Baras Main Tanha Hoon*
**O’ friend of the past season
This year completely alone I am**
*Teri Gali Mein Sara Din
Dukh Ke Kankar Chunta Hoon*
**Whole day, in your street
Collecting the pebbles of sorrows I am**
*Mera Diya Jalaye Kuan
Main Tera Khali Kamra Hoon*
**Who will set my lamp alight?
O’ your vacated room I am**
*Apni Leher Hai Apna Rog
Dariya Hoon Aur Pyasaa Hoon*
**My own wave is the malady
Ocean I am and yet so thirsty I am**
*Aati Rut Mujhe Royegi
Jaati Rut Ka Jhonka Hoon*
**Coming season will weep for me
O’ breeze of the ending season I am**
— Translated by Jamil Hussain, Poet Nasir Kazmi, Sung by Ghulam Ali
Oct 26, 2016
Oct 26, 2016 at 8:23 AM UTC
Your home in White Rocks Marina you sat; always there to greet your crew before a voyage. Your red sails standing out among the rest. Silently awaiting your Skipper, our own George Hay Kain, as you rested in your slip, anxious to get underway. You wouldn’t make a sound as you patiently waited for your crew to load their gear down below. After quick yet thorough engine checks your Yanmar engine would roar to life, never failing to put a smile on your Skipper’s face. Your stern lines would come off. Your excitement would rise but you would remain still waiting to be completely free. Your bow lines would come off. You then would gracefully back out of your slip, ready for yet another adventure. Onto the Bay you’d go, wondering where you’d end up next. No matter the challenges you faced, whether in the open ocean, or in the Chesapeake Bay; you always brought your crew home safely; you always prevailed.
My personal experiences aboard never left the Chesapeake Bay, however, the Bay was all I needed. Each moment I spent on board; each trip I attended; will remain with me always: My First Voyage with our Skipper, Branson, DJ, and Sam; Chestertown; simply preparing you for the winter; Long Cruise; Hurricane Irene; Your Final Voyage.
So faithful you would be for your crew, for your Skipper; harsh conditions or not. You may not be resting in your slip in White Rocks Marina, anxious to get underway, but you will always be in the memories, and the hearts, of Skipper George Hay Kain, and the crew of Sea Scout Ship 25.
May you now sail freely across the horizon, out on the open ocean,
Kuan Yin.
Dec 10, 2012
Dec 10, 2012 at 2:43 AM UTC
Hey, Buddha
I’d like to know
what’s that smile for?
what you smiling about?
there’s so much pain
and tension and conflict in the world
and so much loneliness
and so I don’t see cause for a smile
I see you cross-legged
in the gardens and on shelves
and in the pictures
and I see you at the Thai restaurant
and always you have that smile
so Hey, Mr Buddha -
what’s that smile for?
is there any reason why you should smile
when it’s a struggle down here?
I don't mean to be rude
but just tell me:
what’s there to be smiling about?
given the times
maybe an expression of agony
like Christ on the Cross
might be more apt;
or maybe if you were more
like the Abstract Prophet -
no images allowed -
might have been a better
way for you, considering indefinable nirvana
and all that
instead you smile
and perhaps you spawned a tribe of them:
like the laughing Chinese Buddha
whose bellies people rub for good luck;
and all those ancient Chinese sages
eccentric and laughing like the world’s a fun camp;
and that Kuan Yin, that bodhisattva,
who seems a female version of you
she’s smiling always too
though she hears the cries of all sentient beings
so tell it straight
is that smile really necessary
do you think
or is it just some ancient unknown Leonardo’s
chisel cut everyone who makes you
just repeats?
Hey, Buddha
always smiling
what’s that smile for?
what you smiling about, Mr Buddha?
Oct 26, 2010
Oct 26, 2010 at 3:35 AM UTC
So I was doing
my Kuan Yin practice
when I bowed
to a white sculpture
of her
and decided to listen
so she thought to me
"I will tell you
anything you want
to know...
you just have to ask."
so I pondered awhile
and thought,
"What is it?"
and she thought back,
"It is what you think it is."
so I asked,
"Who am I?"
and she thought back,
"You are what you think you are."
so I thought,
"I love you, Kuan Yin."
and blew out the candle.
Dec 1, 2011
Dec 1, 2011 at 4:51 PM UTC
Element of air got me spinning with the winds
The wild one dancing with goddess kuan yin
Earth you guide with your grounded wisdom
My roots in your womb mother blessed with this freedom
Fire you have me lit
Force of unbridled passion infused with inspiration
A perfect fit
Water you are the river of gentle cleansing
What needs to be released you carry from me.
Ether the element of connectedness
Spirit realm
one pointed awearness
Apr 28, 2018
Apr 28, 2018 at 10:29 AM UTC
Thuk-jay-che Kuan Yin
For protecting me
Through this life
Thuk-jay-che Kuan Yin
For helping me
To nurture my gifts
And nourish my body
Thuk-jay-che Kuan Yin
For showing me
Why I am on this planet
For bring justice
Thuk-jay-che Kuan Yin
For encouraging me
Through my parents
My creative side
My artistic side.
Dec 23, 2018
Dec 23, 2018 at 10:29 AM UTC
Sunrise cherry blossom petals
swirl and dance at the compassionate,
adorable feet of the Goddess Kuan Yin
Smiling temples hang like lanterns
from dragon faced cliffs
drifting gently through
pastel terraced clouds
"Merciful Mother
how do we dare to
measure the immeasurable
or calibrate the infinite?
Mortal minds cannot
calculate what is
divinely incomprehensible."
Emerald eyes flash in the
mesmerizing, stormy mist
of Maya
Quan Yin's snow lily hands
wipe away our suffering
soothe our furrowed, fevered brows
Her words fall into pining hearts:
"The body is a temple
you are a projection of love.
Love the Earth, love the air
love the water, love the fire.
Love the part of self that is of the ethers."
Apr 7, 2018
Apr 7, 2018 at 6:15 PM UTC