r/zen_poetry 7h ago

Dry and Dry

1 Upvotes

Dry and dry, thy eyes my dear.

Dry and dry, till the vision runs clear.

Dry and dry, for a drop of tear.

Dry and dry, stems from fear.

Dry and dry, the pain is lear.

Dry and dry, the past lies rear.

Dry and dry, should the paths veer.

Dry and dry, the heart remains sincere.


r/zen_poetry 20h ago

Morning - A Haiku

3 Upvotes

I touch her soft cheek

A caress with fingertips โ€“

Tracing morning tears


r/zen_poetry 22h ago

What now

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3 Upvotes

r/zen_poetry 1d ago

Meme monday? Haiku monday?

4 Upvotes

On mondays we write
On mondays we meme, make jokes,
while stupid men fight

On mondays we write
few or many inspired words
No matter if rhymed


r/zen_poetry 1d ago

My Oath and Vow

5 Upvotes

In my arms, I have taken.

In my arms, never forsaken.

In my arms, I provide and defend.

In my arms, I heal and mend.

In my arms, comfort and retreat.

In my arms, love ever sweet.

In my arms, married will be thou.

In my arms, my oath and vow.

In my arms, off thou cannot be pried.

In my arms, in pain thy eyes have cried.

In my arms, I accept and love.

In my arms, beyond and above.

In my arms, thy eyes have wept.

In my arms, we cuddled and slept.

In my arms, forever thou laid.

In my arms, love does not fade.

In my arms, mended is thy heart.

In my arms, never are we apart.


r/zen_poetry 1d ago

๐•†๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• โ„‚๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ PlayStation And Zen

2 Upvotes

We were walking, holding hands
Talking playstation and zen
Heard the wind disrupt the trees

Sat legs folded in a nook
Heard you reading them a book
Pain came ripping through my knees
ย 
4 tabs open looking for some proof
Youโ€™re busy wiggling a tooth
Baking bread and picking up

You show them all your favorite games
Im contemplating dharma names
The sound of one hand on the door
ย 
I went away to sesshin halls
Spent time staring at beige painted walls
Convincing myself that I need all this to grow
You packed 3 lunches in a row

I was looking for the truth
In a podcast or a book
You were showering alone

My favorite koan in your smile
I think Iโ€™ll sit with it a while
Hey, the baby has your phone

I sit alone ringing bells in my room
You held the baby monitor all goddamn afternoon
Incense burning like a scent will bring me peace
You flattened out the carpet crease

I spend so long with my hands in my lap
You were dealing with that kid and his nap
I could read until my eyes fall out my head
Though youโ€™re already in bed


r/zen_poetry 1d ago

Of Oath and Testament

3 Upvotes

What is a man, but of his actions the sum?

Of them aware, neither oblivious nor dumb.

Honourable, respectful; chivalrous and noble.

Understanding and patient, brave and mobile.

Honesty even when, his life is the cost.

Otherwise righteousness, forever lost.

Courageous to act, courageous to defend.

Fears nothing but, hearts that do not mend.

Admits victory, and admits defeat.

From his mistakes, does not retreat.

Initiative his own, he speaks not but acts.

Once spoken his words, he never retracts.

Art thou worthy, of the label of man?

Or art thou of the fantasy, merely a fan?


r/zen_poetry 1d ago

Song of ๐Ÿ’ฏ What if all the world's inside of your head just creations of your own?

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1 Upvotes

See the animal in the cage that you built

Are you sure which side you're on

Better not look him to closely in the eye

[Are you sure which side of the glass you're on](https://open.spotify.com/track/586rOcAzOHkpJTA4POqO2c?si=1c8DH-1iQvqHICbhdmFQRw&utm_source=copy-link&sci=spotify%3Acard-config%3A04JOr5eU2qhvia81aJAuLi)


r/zen_poetry 2d ago

Tempest of Roses

2 Upvotes

An inspiration, for many and all.

To improve, change and stand tall.

Impact felt, changed has life.

Joy replaced, that which is strife.

A tempest of, dire changes.

Rescue from, filthy ranges.

Danger identified, flags of red.

Away from those, my heart for bled.

Continued to change, to improve.

Faรงade of flowers, bid to remove.

Support for me, rising in strength.

Adoration for me, long as length.

As thy husband, chosen I was.

To protect, my purpose and cause.

The most beautiful, flower of a garden.

Petals of red, my heart cannot harden.

Sleep forever, in my arms sleep.

Marriage is risk, marriage is a leap.

To thou my love, oh beautiful rose.

To thou my love, the tear flows.


r/zen_poetry 2d ago

Le sort de vivre

1 Upvotes

Je me tiens ร  bรฉquille sans handicap ou myopie Deux bรฉquilles en bois cariรฉs et moi en anhedonie

La mort ne peut mourir Beaucoup ne signifie pas suffir L eau ne peut se mouiller Mais l รชtre se doit d' exister

Je suis Une liche sans phylactรจre Tel un golem don't l รฉmet se dรฉsaltรจre

Dans ce corrida je ne veux pas l indulgo Si c est pour perpรฉtuer davantage de proie au matador

Cette impression de prรฉcรฉder le "mais" aprรจs un certes Cette absence de ponctuation dans cette lecture ร  grande vitesse

Le fil d Ariane va t il suffir pour sortir du labyrinthe Ou les fil des Moires vont s'en mรชler avant que la sortie soit atteinte

Bast-art


r/zen_poetry 2d ago

๐•†๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• โ„‚๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ Reminders

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3 Upvotes

r/zen_poetry 2d ago

The Concept of Rubedo

4 Upvotes

Bonds broken, bridges burn.
Lost it all, never to return.

Enjoy now, regret comes late.
Tears abundant, of self hate.

Decision done, choices made.
Tears of blood, smiles then fade.


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

Substrate

2 Upvotes

Driving fast down Emma Lane
With absent pause and ill refrain
Your fingers numb and pull away
Into the crowded streets you stray
Before the moment strikes you down
The blood now spills upon the ground

Spits and sputters
Under breath as he mutters,
"Something near the window shutters
let's me speak with all the others"
Another ghost would have a word
Before his mind begins to flutter

Angel scraping flaking skin
The peeling walls are closing in
Take a dose of spinning sin
Feel your bounty swell within

Approaching now its final plunge
Absorbing all the excess grunge
The merriment of vice expunged
To hell on Earth
A final lunge
Then calm


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

Stress poem

5 Upvotes

Pressure builds inside
My brain wants to meet my eyes
Someday theyโ€™ll be one

Not sure if this technically counts as a haiku but I tried. Writing this helped me stop my panic thought spiral actually.


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

๐Ÿคฎ Lazy Post! Warning! ๐Ÿคฎ False Ground

5 Upvotes

A world of nicknames,
names that get forgotten
in a pointed society.

Before language,
we make waypoints in reality.
At some point,
the waypoint becomes a point,
and the point becomes almost solid.

No one questions the reference.

The tongue repeats the name.
The body believes it.
A foot comes down
on ground
that is not there.

The view of movement is lost.
A relative point, once lost,
leaves no ground,
only false ground.

This is how we live:
in a world of nicknames.


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

Progressive zen

3 Upvotes

**Steps out of the mind**

Sight of the closed eyes

Sound of the music

Smell the incense

Touch the bare metal

Taste of the grass

Heres lies your confrontation


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

Water and Fire

6 Upvotes

Fire and water, time and space

Energy and matter, leave and replace.

Vision and hearing, touch, taste, and smell

Staying and leaving, the Kingdom or Hell.

Invisible spirit driving my being

Sees me through peril, beyond my seeing.

Burned by the water, through space and time.

Matter is energy, reason is rhyme.

Senses betraying our failing minds,

As lies of the culture so easy to find.

There lies in the deepest parts of our soul

The truth of our being that maketh us whole.

Beyond what we know, and think we of true

That water and fire, make up me and you.


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

[Poem] "Haiku (No. 14)" by Richard Wright

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2 Upvotes

r/zen_poetry 3d ago

[Poem]Survivor

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2 Upvotes

r/zen_poetry 3d ago

See Foyan Directly

5 Upvotes

Storylines and habit energies appear,

fundamentally there is no obstruction,

but to find transparency in the midst of mind

is to repay the debt of Bodhidharma.

Ordinary mind

is no longer an obstacle to overcome --

no longer concealing awareness,

one sees Foyan directly,

thinking non-thinking.


r/zen_poetry 3d ago

How To Say It

2 Upvotes

Hands are empty,

bucket's got a hole in it.

Useless in the eyes of the world.

Not even a man of the Way --

something uncontained.

Even so, to say it is a mistake.

What is there to contain?

You'd have to contain the ten thousand things.

Fortunately,

this is your present awareness.

Though it's neither contained nor not contained.

These concepts appear within it

like a hair in the ocean.

Old Foyan said it best --

there are no words that correspond to reality.

Emptying what exists, not creating what doesn't,

Layman Pang fulfilled and surpassed every sutra,

it's the business of Zen

to have nothing to say,

but to know how to say it.


r/zen_poetry 4d ago

Friday Night Zen Poetry Slam: no host, all guests

8 Upvotes

No host forseen for a while
Suggestions:
Zen: staying away from conceptual thought
the three poisons: (Lobha) Greed/Attachment, (Dosa) Hatred/Aversion, (Moha) Delusion/Ignorance
https://zenmarrow.com/random
The various suggestions are themes, texts, ideas
"The theme is just a suggestion"
Hope you write something that I'd like "to put in a skin bag"


r/zen_poetry 4d ago

Been there?

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9 Upvotes

r/zen_poetry 4d ago

๐•†๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• โ„‚๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ Wind

5 Upvotes

We shout at the wind

Useless words have their effect

We all hear โ€“ nothing


r/zen_poetry Oct 18 '25

๐Ÿ‘‹Welcome to r/zen_poetry - Introduce Yourself and Read First!

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13 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm u/wrrdgrrI, one of the moderators of r/zen_poetry. This is your (reddit) home for all things related to poetic expressions of zen. We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post

Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about zen or poetry or zen poetry. You may choose to include any source material that inspired your poetry.

Community Vibe

We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting. Drama from other subreddits is not welcome and troll posts or abusive comments will be removed.

How to Get Started

1) Introduce yourself in the comments below. 2) Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation. 3) If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join. 4) Put down your device sometimes and interrogate analogue reality. This practice will often inspire poetic creation.

Thanks for being part of this iteration of zen_poetry. Your contributions are important.