“The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join in the dance.” Alan Watts

Hi! This Team member Toni, better known as Kanzen Sakura.  I am your Pub Tender today and I am happy to bring today’s Poetics to you today.  How many of you out in the Blogosphere have ever experienced any changes in your lives?  WHAT?!?!  ALL of you?  This means this is something we can all relate to and write about.

One of the major Japanese aesthetics is mujo,impermanence. Mountains, rivers, seasons, life situations, health – all things change. It is part of existence, life. In mujo, there is the embracing of it, of accepting it. Some of us deal with change well, some deal badly, some deal with other types of change better than other.

Our poetics today deal with writing poems about Change: seasonal change, life change, heath changes, career and/or geographic changes, our aging selves or others, marriage, divorce, bereavement, birth of a child – even hair style change and how it affected us.

In the US, most of us experienced a profound change September 2001. In March 2011, Japan experienced changes with the tsunami and nuclear reactor devastation. Today in parts of Europe, the influx of refugees creates varios changes and challenges. Some of us have had our lives changed to the extent of almost total devastation of self and heart.

Instead of a poetic example, I am offering a performance example video. A music group from Japan combines unique music, dance, Zen performance. They often perform on the streets. It is interesting to see reactions of people around them.

For those of you who do not wish to view: the video opens during morning business rush. A shoja, temple bell , begins the beat. World Order is on the sidewalk among the commuters, busy and fast are a contrast to the slow motion of the group. The scene moves to the beautiful avenue lined with golden leaved gingkos, the to the countryside with a moody Fuji in the background, autumn brown susuki grass waving in the breeze. In the scenes are also an anti-nuclear Occupy tent and, on the beach with the Fukushima reactor in the background, in early morning, the group moves from there to the tank farms and wind farms. At the end, a fast montage of photos flash by, one showing the reactor when it exploded. The video ends in the late afternoon, World Order looking up to a blue sky.

Changes in this video: morning, sunset, city to country to beach, alternatives to nuclear power shown, sadness to smiles, sadness to hope. Even the leader of World Order made changes to his life and philosophy; from world class Mixed Martial Artist to activist for peace and unity. I hope you will choose to watch the video and be inspired by it.

This is not an open link prompt.  If you wish to post a poem to this prompt please:
– Make the poem relevant to Change and new for this prompt
– Please use 24 lines or fewer (or 200 words or fewer)
– link your poem back to d’Verse
– If you write a haibun, please use the compact form with one or two tight prose
paragraphs and one haiku
– Click on Mr. Linky to enter your name and direct URL of your post.
– invite your friends to join us!

BIO Kanzen is an East Meets South mashup and has a deep love and respect for Japan and its culture. She has been writing for longer than she wants to say. Her favorite poetic forms are traditional haiku and tanka.