Poem: "Climbing the Inner Mountain"
A First Day of Spring poem inspired by the Shinto and Shugendō practice of Rokkonshōjō (六根清浄): Purification of the Six Senses, sometimes referred to as the Yama Nembutsu
“Climbing the Inner Mountain”
at the Shrine of the Sun-Kissed Winter Wind Departing
Swift arc: hawk through trees.
Breeze-tremor: gold needles of pine.
Long Woman Mountain beckons:
ridges, valleys, slopes.
A perfect stone seat
worn down
by a thousand years of rain.
High winds last night.
High winds today.
Amaterasu’s luscious beams
blast down from above.
Heat doesn’t make the journey with the light today.
Old Man Winter’s
frosty-white robe
blankets the high hills,
causes all the precious critters
to hunker down, burrow, nest.
First Day of Spring.
We begin another cycle
climbing the inner mountain.
As we leave the dark
and enter the light,
may our six senses be purified
from the thick weight of these times.
Purified from the stain
of the red dust world,
the Great Sun Power
moves through every cell:
eyes see beauty again
ears hear wisdom again
our sense of fragrance leaves us buoyant
our hands remember fragility and strength
heart-mind-spirit renewed.
Heart-Mind-Spirit renewed.
(c) 2023 / Frank Inzan Owen
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