Link to full article: Holly Thompson’s tribute to Morgan Gibson
In late October, poet Morgan Gibson died (1929-2017), and last weekend I attended a small gathering in Kamakura for sharing memories, sharing poems by Morgan and by his translator/scholar wife Keiko Matsui Gibson, and segueing to Bach on cello performed by his son Christopher Gibson. It was a beautiful gathering, followed by lunch and more conversation, and we walked home via back roads, stopping to quietly visit Chojuji, a Buddhist temple only recently opened to the public, to stare at moss and stone gardens. It seemed we were still in that time-space cloud that Morgan seemed to inhabit, even when he was present with us. Morgan seemed to share a joyous wonder for the world, and his immersion in that pondering wonder led to poems I will always treasure.
Many of Morgan's poems are perfect for sharing with young writers. One poem read at the memorial gathering "I Am How I Breathe," from his collection Nonzen Poems (review) published by Printed Matter Press, would be a perfect poem for teens to attempt to "trace"--as explained in Rachel Richardson's "Learning Image and Description": "A trace is an act of imitation in which you choose your own subject (locale, weather, objects, etc.) and then apply it to the master poem, in effect rewriting the poem with different objects."
Here is the opening of that poem:
I AM HOW I BREATHE
I am how I breathe beech smoke in rain
leaves eyeing me at dusk rustling me asleep
eyes harboring a sea
And here is an excerpt of another favorite of mine from Nonzen Poems
CHINESE TEAPOT
When you stare at wordsthey gape like fish on a pier.
Like fish by a pierpoems hide among rocks.
Among rocks they floatlike seaweed in our dreams.
Another one from Nonzen Poems is "The Moon in Milk." Here is the opening:
THE MOON IN MILK
The moon in milkhunts for you.
*
Where is a rayfor your eye?
*
Who is as brightas the moonand as clouded?
*
The moon hunts hidingmoonstones.
There are many more great poems to share in Morgan's collection Lusterless Wanderer and Other Poems, (also published by Printed Matter Press) including "No One the One," "Poet of Snow" and "The Mailman."
See also Morgan's poem "Zazen in the Temple of Choice" in Poetry Kanto.
And his essay collection Among Buddhas in Japan.
Thank you to Morgan Gibson for leaving us these poem gems to carry forward as we wander.