In Praise of Poetry
From Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the World by Amy Kisei
May 3, 2026 · 33 min
About this episode
In this episode, Amy Kisei explores the significance of poetry within the Buddhist and Zen traditions, discussing its various functions and sharing favorite poems.
Greetings Friends, I’m a lover of poetry. A sometimes writer of poems. A sometimes reader. Poetry for me is more of a way of being, a willingness to be carried across by metaphor, to be turned inside out by image, to sit in the silence, to not know and to be transformed through the art of attention. The best poetry is wordless attention. And, also. Some poems really act as an arrow, straight to the heart of it and allow what is often inexpressible—a moment of shared recognition. April was national poetry month, and one of the ways I celebrated was to reflect on poetry in the buddhist and zen tradition. I looked at the different kinds of poetry and its function. In doing so, I recognized four functions of poetry: enlightenment poems, death poems, capping phrases and poems of intimacy with what is. Listen to the talk for more exploration of these four functions, with examples from some of my favorite poems from the tradition. Below are a few favorites for your reading pleasure. Dongshan’s Enlightenment Poem Long seeking it from others, I was far from reaching it. Now I go by myself, and I find it everywhere. It is just I myself, but I am not itself. Understanding in this way, I can…
People in this episode
Host: Amy Kisei
Topics covered
- poetry
- Buddhism
- Zen tradition
- enlightenment
- death
- intimacy
Keywords
- poetry
- Buddhism
- Zen
- enlightenment poems
- death poems
- capping phrases
- intimacy
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Dongshan’s Enlightenment Poem, Ikkyu’s Death Poem, Mitta’s Enlightenment Poem
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