Phoenix Whispers of the Ancient Trees

Poem by Lan Xin

Internationally renowned writer, poet and translator, member of the Chinese Writers Association. The only female inheritor of UNESCO-listed Dongba Culture, International Disseminator of Dongba Culture and practitioner of Chinese culture’s global outreach. Winner of the Italian Francesco Giampietri International Literary Award, President of Lanxin Samei Academy and Dean of Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy.

A thousand years ago

we took root together in this ancient temple

Century after century quietly passed

we became the most devoted ancient trees in all the world

Over this thousand years

through the silent turning of the four seasons

through the unpredictable cycles of life

we have witnessed this ancient temple

rise and fall fall and rise enduring all hardships

We watch beings come and go burn incense and pray

with thousands of wishes in their hearts

Yet our watch has never wavered

not even for a single moment

The butterfly bush blooms pure white in winter and spring

the golden osmanthus shines bright gold in autumn

the red plum blossoms blushing pink in the bitter cold

the Chinese crabapple bursts into rose-red in spring

the incense cypress wears eternal green all year long

Whether the temple is full of voices or completely still

whether incense burns prosperous or only broken walls remain

we stand root to root heart to heart silently guarding one another

Even if the halls collapse and only we are left in heaven and earth

we still firmly believe —

one day the phoenix will come stepping upon light

to reunite with us after a thousand years

Now heaven rewards this thousand year of waiting this endless longing

At last she has arrived —

the phoenix draped in ten thousand rays of golden light

Amidst total desolation she recognized us at first sight

Amidst utter ruin she chose us without hesitation

Amidst broken walls she restored the temple’s thousand-year glory

Amidst silence and loneliness

she made incense burn again and life flourish once more

Amidst the dust of years

she made this sacred land known to all renowned across the world

From this day on

we shall live and die with the phoenix never to be parted

This is the place where the golden phoenix returns to rest

This is the place where the golden phoenix spreads her wings and soars

If the world shall give us a new name

then bestow upon us —

Phoenix Ancient Trees!

Interpretation 

This poem takes the thousand-year-old ancient trees as silent witnesses and the phoenix as a symbol of light and rebirth. It speaks of the deepest bond between human and nature, and writes of waiting, guardianship and faith across time. This is the guardianship of life to life, the call of soul to soul, a great love that transcends race, borders and time.

May this pure deep feeling from the East by poet Lan Xin awaken the truest kindness and peace in the world and let love and light shine upon all humanity.

To Know We are Alive

Close your eyes,

Value your smile,

Make stretch and shine bright,

Push forward towards the light.

Make others smile,

Don’t just do it for a while,

Take care of your time,

Make time for the great Divine.

Plant trees,

Sow your seeds,

Chase your dreams,

Finding every little gleam.

Feed the hungry,

Stand up for the weak,

Don’t do it for glory,

Even when it feels black and bleak.

Give voice to those who can’t speak,

Give more than you take,

Don’t go after the fake,

And don’t prey on the weak.

Feel others pain,

Don’t just be after your gain,

Be the hands to the armless,

The sight to the ones in darkness.

Feel morning rays on your skin,

Evening shadows hovering on the horizon,

You depart with nothing, not even a pin,

Everything is just vanity.

THE JUNGLE DARES THE WORLD OF CRIME

Dr Jernail S. Anand

Whenever there are events involving injustice and wildness, we often say, it is ‘jungle raaj’ [the law of the jungle].  The jungle is abused as we often abuse a man who has done an indecent job calling him a dog.  A crow, when crows, is a harbinger of a cherished guest, but a crow, nowadays  is mentioned more as one, who is killed and hung aloft for a lesson to other crows. 

When we compare a man’s mischief, we go to monkeys and cats, and when we refer to his power, we catch the lion. However, when men eat human flesh, and turn indiscriminate, we invoke wolves. A man who is dunce is likened to an ass, and if something is going very fast, it is said to be talking to the winds. How is power of a man measured if not as horsepower. And most of all, when we have to reject something as absurd, a bull comes to our rescue, along with his shit. We call it ‘bull-shit’.  The jungle is never far away when we men have to say something, and it has to be exemplified   from the animal world. 

In fact, we go to nature to authenticate our experience. In the same way as we quote from great authors and thinkers and even from Vedas. If some man has eaten up some other person, there is no way to say it more effectively than saying that he has eaten into him like ‘deemak’ [termiotes].  If some misfortune strikes a man, we compare it with lightning. 

If we have to compare a man’s steadfastness, we invoke mountains. If a man starts going to a place of worship after committing sins, we are reminded of a cat going for Hajj after eating nine hundred mice. And if we want to tell man he should have a great patience, Farid the great poet says: a man should have the patience of a tree.  Men who are full of wisdom, are humble just as a branch bearing a fruit bends.  As pure as the Ganges, as high as the Himalayas, I wonder if there is any human emotion which can be delivered authentically without referring to nature. 

So, it is the nature which we often call the ‘jungle raaj’.  The idea of ‘jungle raaj’ conveys the idea of lack of justice in the human world.  It is interesting to see why man thinks that his world is more just, as compared to the world of nature. Here is a glimpse of the life of the jungle, which human beings often denounce. The big fish eat the small fish. The powerful kill the less powerful. This is what happens in the jungle and even in oceans and the same thing happens in the world of men too. But the point of departure between the two world arrives soon, and I wonder if we can really accuse the world of nature as a land of lawlessness. 

The Order of Nature

The order that we find in nature is far more powerful and more established than in the human world. Birds, animals are born with a default understanding of their role. Just imagine, they have no schools. It is only the human being who needs training in schools. And we need worship places to teach us how to pray and remain connected to the creator, whereas animals are always in a state of prayer. A Punjabi poet, Prof. Puran Singh finds the buffaloes and calves [animals on their fours] always in a state of prostration.  Animals and birds have no liquor shops, they do not have ‘bars’, they do not have rave parties, they do not molest women. And most of everything, have you come across any murder in the forest?

In the forest, which we call the ‘jungle raaj’, there are killings. The big animals eat away the smaller animals. In fact, most of the birds are non-vegetarian. They eat up smaller insects. But nobody raises any cry. Because it is their way of life. There are no murders as I said, no police stations, no violation of rights. There are no courts to ensure justice. Only we human beings need courts of justice because the human world thrives on injustice. Murders take place in the human world only.  The jungle has no underworld. They have no armies. No weapons dump. We have never seen them fighting pitched battles as men have done in the past over land for oil or resources.  

Nature is a repository of sense and wisdom. Jungle is far more composed and balanced in its attitude towards life. They do not attack humans. Only humans have assaulted and molested the vegetation and the trees. 

In fact, for the human world, ‘jungle raaj’ refers to the lack of justice and fairness, and a world which is given to crime. The fact is that the world of the jungle is the real world of nature where the law of the creator, the original laws are in operation. Man, with his greed and weapons, has created a world of crime which he equates with the ‘jungle raaj’. In my opinion, we denigrate the jungle in order to establish our superiority, whereas the facts prove it otherwise. 

The final truth about the law of the jungle and the law of man’s land is a comparison between a sense of live and let live, and a passion for greed and exploitation and ultimate elimination of the other. The jungle ‘raaj’ is original and superior, whereas man’s laws are artificial and inferior, if not altogether infernal. 

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, with an opus of 190 plus books, is Laureate of the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards.  His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand’s work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision. He is President of the International Academy of Ethics. 

Sea 

The long and wide sea, full of mystery and magic and danger amidst its beauty. Great is its countenance. Maybe nobody described it such as Joseph Conrad. The sometimes-dark sea, saturnine and rueful. Sea. Ocean. The sands in the shores. All linked together. The world of the water. Vessels. Imagine the coral and the fish, sharks and whales, or the shipwrecks and sunken treasures perhaps ghosts, the phantoms of the depths and saltwater, roam with no need of breathing apparatus. Go and look spirit…pirate first mate captain mere honest passenger who paid their way and was so innocent and unassuming. What millions of secrets still?- UFO bases? Airplanes never found. Unknown species. Sea sea sea. Stories of the sea. Wild. Ocean. To wander its shores and think of it all. 

Beyond the Extraordinary or of Joseph Conrad (Experience, Language, Hard Work, and Genius)

Many of the scholars and documentaries and such rightly claim that numerous things contributed to Joseph Conrad’s highly successful and monumental canon of literature. They point out his multiple languages, plus a passion for the sea and written word, and the study and hard work, plus an immense dedication to craft and truth both. But, though that’s all obviously true, in reading him there is something more, and it’s that he was possessed of genius. And in two ways. 

One part of his genius was in seeing, and he himself said that above all he wanted to make people see. And the other half was in expression, in writing. He saw and he wrote. Many people speak multiple languages, and several are writers and poets, but is there anyone that can turn every sentence into gold like Conrad? Little or few. And in a climate modern where sparseness and brevity is lauded as a fashion for some odd reason, his golden descriptive sentences shine even brighter, turning the idea of telling a story into something immensely valuable. Conrad can show the way back to true storytelling and literature. 

Therefore, it is a sea worker’s life and experience, the languages, the interest, and hard work, but, nature or God also added genius to the mix. If you look closely, even though there are several that can turn sentences that are extraordinary, there are few that can go beyond the extraordinary into something else entirely. 

The Hockey Pins

The first memory was of a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey pin, blue and white, just the outline of the leaf if I remember correctly. And there was another one, circular with a blue background and a white leaf, again, if I recall correctly. This was all practically another lifetime ago, the late 1970’s and early to maybe middle 1980’s. I liked those pins, and some had a safety pin type apparatus at the back while others had a straight metal part that one put a clip or metal end on. 

A few times my cousin and I walked to one of the convenience stores and bought a pin or two. I can see in the mind’s eye the other NHL teams, smart and well-made pins, twenty-one teams then. I recall The Philadelphia Flyers one, The Washington Capitals, those two especially for some reason. And there was another All Stars one, maybe designating the NHL all-star game held once a year, I think. 

Later, having achieved the highest level for my age group, Major, also called AAA, the teams I played for, Mississauga Blackhawks, Wexford Raiders, and Toronto Red Wings, went on numerous tournaments. Sometimes the organizations gave each player a bunch of pins to trade with the other teams. I’d end up with many pins from all over. I put them on cloth, a few cloths in fact, for safe keeping. These cloths with all kinds of hockey pins I had for a long time but have misplaced them. Sadly, I don’t know where they went. 

The hockey pins represented sport and skill, of the heroes and greats, and later of my teams and travel and experience on the ice against all these teams. That was one level but there was a more simple and yet magical level also and it was the colour and style, the metallic feel and weight of the pin. They could go on jackets or sometimes trucker hats. I can’t remember what exactly made me remember the pins, but something somehow did. Maybe a dream. Maybe something in real life. Maybe some angel of sport or pin or an angel of time itself…

We are humans 

We supposed to build relationships with humans not meta humans 

Not animals 

Not aliens

We supposed to bring peace in the harmonious world we live 

But everyday I see

A woman hugging a cat or dog

Feed them

Bath them

While babies are throwing to the center 

Men talk to their dogs about their problems and prefer to stay with them

Instead to Go out and meet a human being 

What is going with this society of screening 

We are becoming clones of ourselves 

Without emotion 

Without feelings 

We celebrate and congratulate only our people…. our tribe 

What about the others.. People..that they are doing so much about what we call

Good 

We must say silent 

We must not celebrate their achievements?

Humans need recognition 

Individuals need assistance in every level due to the COVID test and everything that follows this experiment 

But do you think 

Having only relationships

with cats and dogs

Is that healthy???

I wonder exactly in what kind of society we are leaving 

We don’t even speak to each other 

And when we do

We have hate 

We have negative thoughts 

We have too much inside our hearts 

Too much dark and fear

So i tell you now 

Get rid of those toxic feelings 

Start reading 

Start writing 

Start dancing 

Start laughing 

Life is short 

EVA Petropoulou Lianou 

International poet 

Founder of literary movement 

POETRY unites people 

Art painting and poetry