Deja Vu at Paper Poetry
A Tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh
The Zen Buddhist monk who taught us mindfulness
“Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” Thich Nhat Hanh (Oct 11, 1926 — Jan 22, 2022)
incense wafting through the air daisies scattered everywhere berobed monks in yellows and browns prayerful chants of deep mourning
a wooden coffin amidst the throng loyal followers subdued hues of grey heads bowed file past duty calling here present observant ever grateful
Thay’s body in death’s still repose in life a living Buddha writer-poet peacemaker master father of mindfulness Thich Nhat Hanh at 95 has left us
a legacy of Zen teachings spiritual freedom mind and body found there in each blade of grass leaf flower tree branch your breath
© Carolyn Hastings 2022
Dedicated to Thich Nhat Hanh, the father of mindfulness, and the monks from the International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism who continue their master’s teachings. Thich Nhat Hanh, known by his followers as Thay (teacher), died at the Tu Hieu Pagoda, in Hue, Vietnam on January 22, 2022, aged 95.
The tribute poem I have written is essentially a found poem. I sourced most of the words from an article I read in The Australian newspaper on January 25, 2022. The same article was published online here.
At the time of reading the article, my intention had been to write an elegy in response to Maria Rattray’s tag the previous day. I made a start, but an elegy didn’t seem quite the right fit for a man who advocated positivity and peace over sadness and repression. I hope my found poem is more in keeping with the tenets of mindfulness and the spirit of a humble man who gave us so much. 💛
I’ve written this piece for Déjà Vu at Paper Poetry where poets can respond to one or more of the 14 weekly prompts that Paper Poetry has hosted so far this year. My poem is in response to Suntonu Bhadra’s Week 10, one-word theme prompt: monk.
As well as Maria, I would like to call upon a few poets to join us in Déjà Vu at Paper Poetry — ✨ Amanda Laughtland because she knows a thing or two about found poetry ✨ Francine Fallara because I think there’s a prompt that will speak to her ✨ Dennett because she might want to wow us with another tritriplicata! ✨ Imad because I haven’t seen him around Medium for a while — I hope he’s okay 🙏
Of course, everyone is welcome to take part in Déjà Vu at Paper Poetry — you’ll find the details here —
Thank you all for reading. 🙏 💕
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