Human Life

Human life is epic, 
Every event that happens in life is a reservoir of poetry.  
Life is like a single candle, 
You never know when it will go out.  
One day you have to leave like the selfish.

For the Bird of Peace

Some parts are jerking in earthquake
Some hearts are trembling in fire and fighting
The queue of death getting larger
We, the commoners affected too much
The souls cry in desert
The unstopped rain pouring on the soil in red
Only a touch of love can dispel
The dried, pathetic or hectic sight of face
Where is the bird of peace?
Oh bird, come so fast flapping on the eyes
And make us all joy.

Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
27/02//2023

The Relics

The kite of love flying in the sky
Rotating from time to time on and on
You and I come out and visit the scene
Once they made The World of Love – still alive
Hundreds and thousands of men, women or children
Watch the relics and remember the shrine adding the wedding room
Built in 600-700 century called Gokul Medh at Bogura Zilla
The relics is open to all brightening the archaeological value
The tune of love suddenly focuses
The Basor Ghor ( The Wedding Room) of Behula – Lakhindor
The image you can draw at your own frontier.

Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
27/02//2023

Born in Catanzaro(1962-Italy) where he lives and works…Claudio Parentela is an illustrator,painter,digital painter,photographer,mail artist,cartoonist,collagist,textile artist,journalist free lance…Active since many years in the international contemporary art scene.He has collaborated &he collaborates with many,many zines,magazines of contemporary art,literary and of comics in Italy and in the world…& on the paper and on the web…some name amongst the many:NYArtsMagazine,Turntable & Blue Light Magazine,

Komix,LitChaos,Why Vandalism,Thieves Jargon,180 Mag,Braintwisting,The Doors of Creativity Anthology,Lo Sciacallo Elettronico,Inguine,Stripburger,Lavirint,Komikaze, Mystery Island Magazine,Monoclab, MungBeing Magazine,The Lummox Journal,The Cherotic R(e)volutionary,Sick Puppy,Malefact,Gordo,johnmagazine, SHITTY SHEEP-Lamette, alchimiadeldolore,Be|Different, UpScene Magazine ,Chance,Lucid Moon, Tryst ,Carolina Vigna Maru’s Blog, Abusemagazine, hijacked, Synthesis, filosofem.com, Spartandog, Numbmagazine,DrexterMagz,Que Suerte,Art Life,Pintalo De Verde,ApArte,Evasion,The Benway Institute,Phony Lid Publications,First Class,This Is Magazine,Diesel,Stu Magazine, Becoming Journal , Exposweb, Pockoville,Crane Magazine,Staplegun, Zupi ,4×6-art, Funtime Comics,Untergruntblatte, lartmagazine, Passenger May, Sekushi , Onthecamper,Head Press,Entmoot,

Lartmagazine,You&Me,Rorschach,Fagorgo,B.G.A.Comix,Tracce,Prospektiva,Balkan Spirit,Liberazione.net,Don Juan Online,Emozioni, Digitalabstract,Fatece Largo,Petrolio,Out Zine,Pssst Zine,Bolle Di Cartone,All About Fucking,Gibbering Madness,Rotkop,Anima Mal Nata,ZZZzine,Labour Of Love,Bianco D’Uovo,Bries,Ratriot,Kami Zine,Pus!,Bathtub Gin,Experimental Forest,Stardust Memories,Sunburn,Funtime Comics,Spaghetti,Plop,Topaz&Psichedelica,Joey and The Black Boots,Blind Man’s Rainbow,The White Buffalo Gazzette,Lore,Lunatic,Chamelon,Rigodor,Axolotl,Luca Bonanno Editore,Succo Acido,Pitchfork,Chainsmoker,Surface,Crimson Feet,Skyline,Re:Magazine,Oyster Boy Review,Anthology,Xero Magazine,Slic,Lit Pot Press, warmtoast cafe,Gumball Poetry,Mineshaft,Milk&Wodka,Yahoo Zine,Stardust

Memories,CartaIgienica,Faestethic,Field Report,Out Of The Blue,Comfusion Magazine,Careful,Ellin Selae,Multistorey,Disegni Di Sogni,Omnibus,The Sound Projector,Gooch Magazine,Laugh Clown Laugh,Shift, Castlemagazine- WAMtv,Vial,Frior,Debilana,Cool Strip Anthology,Territory,Panik, weblog.bezembinder.nl,Celulit,Pimba,OtomanoProper Gander,Container,Mammamiaquantosangue,Cikuta,Traspiratore,Gambuzine,Empty Life,Erroneo,Kalte Tage,Planeta Underground,Cabezabajo,

Poetexpress,Nexus,Criade,Love Eternal Lost Infernal,Algiza,Raven,A.K.O.M.,Mutate & Survive,Angelflesh Press,Skirocore,Sirota Jerica,Zone Optimiste De Bande Dessinèe,Breakfast All Day,The Brown Bottle,Crystal Drum,The Brobdingnan Time,Edgar,Il Foglio Clandestino,Microbe,New York Press,Something Else,O!!Zone,Vitriol,The Flashing Astonisher,Devil Blossoms,Contagio,The Dream Zone,Sinus,Yops Zine,Versus Press, lamoira. –ultrazine-graphola-tribenet-linarte-homme-moderne-furtherfield-globevisions-artbabyart- UpScene Magazine -zanzibart-braintwisting-arte.go-designradar-sitart-sciacalloelettronico-artfaq- Caveat Lector-lazaruscorporation-ionone-lospaziobianco-youandiproductions-artrenegades-artbureau-cimaisevirtuelle-americanspiritstudios-Choler Magazine-graphiland-artpoetryfiction-catalyzerjourna-ambulant-surfaceonline-lambiek-thebluesmokeband—equilibriarte-gumballpoetry-cafeshops-subtletea-vu gallery-silverfish-zeroboutique-mondocolorado-succoacido-artzar-unlikelystories-discord-aggregate-latchkey.net-bewilderingstories-artbarge-yokeandzoom-bhag.net-chaosgeneration-artgalerie34-lobstupidfish-netcells.net-thundersandwich-sensuoussadie-thepedestalmagazine- BecomingJournal- No More Flowers –

Space Junkies Magazine-lucidmoonpoetry-ubq-plumrubyreview-komikaze-tattoohighway-Burrow Magazine-Swoon Magazine-artistswithoutfrontiers- WAMTV-…El Eros Incesante -thedigitalartist-doubledarepress-theaxis-cloudking-monkeyview- Y SIN EMBARGO magazine –Dirt Cheap Magazine- Degrees of Separation- WeirdArt-drunkenboat-erreur404-bigbridge-monkeyview-opensewer-oysterboyreview-labisagra-Entero’ziNe-arti(e)rumori –botulinux-tenaviv-eternarte-fameweb-erbadellastrega-muse-apprentice-guild-dimensionearte-socialdesignzine-indiejournal- thanalonline-Rorschach-roxybar-genomart-spreadhead-duepunti- AnythingILike- LIFE DURING WARTIME- surreal collages-

-stategrezzi-agliincrocideiventi-stradanove-Tiscali Arte-hybridstudios-arthal-socialdesignzine-boxart-.eroxe-edizioniriccardi-art.e-zine-erroneo-SOGNOdiSEGNI 2002-clubghost-musicheart-linguaggioglobale- dwarfcadaver -actarus-xseven-whipart-girodivite-ideerandage-gordo.it-erbadellastrega-skorieindustriali-wema-Entero’ziNe-robotswillkill-omnisat-lucidmoonpoetry-H+Art-komikaze-hoardmag-phueydesign-Culture1.com-tattoohighway-arteutile-herecomethewilddogs-RetortMagazine- subculture-lovepain.com-showcomplex-lobstupidfish-wormwoodchronicles-ArtRemains-gallerythe-prettythings- artsingulier–dustydomino-halfempty- americanartists-cartaigienica-escualotis-artactif-webdesignersexperiments-outsiderink-pseudolo-samsara-strangedude-globevisions-lospaziobianco-yokeandzoom-cafeblu-casaditolleranza-equilibriarte-stickyourneckout- artrevolt project- Hugo Strikes Back!-botulinux-literarypotpourri-locomediadub-halfempty-Choler Magazine-Mistery Island Magazine-inkpots-

artisticdevil-lamette-studiocleo-lovepain-tribenet-inguine.net-Hermatena-prosetoad-stickyourneckout-pickwick-samsara-artfaq-rorschachonline-arte.go-jamcafe magazine-locomediadub-Animals in Mailart –roxybar-Arts Ablaze Gallery –Filosofem-enfusemagazine-sensuallogic-phirebrush-millenniumartgallery-dork magazine-galleryculture-Escáner Cultural-digitalconsciousness-Arts Ablaze Gallery –mousikelab-fameweb-socialdesignzine-theshowingplace- warmtoast cafe-gumballpoetry-invisibleinsurrection-hybridstudios-digizine-charnwood-arts-surface-wiredheart-poemus-artrenegades-mindcaviar-succoacido-gallerythe-Vulcanoidi- The Lamp-Araba Fenice -net-art-artetop-guzzardi.it-mentalcontagion-furtherfield-catalyzerjournal-Cristian S. Aluas CSA Books-Lummox Press/Journal-lovechess-americanspiritstudios-Mashnote Magazine …- ANIMAL magazine- Wicked -TheArtSource- Not The Tate, gallery- nonzi-escmagazine-graphiczone-

theamericanskin-undergroundxchange-Silent Presence Gallery-publiceyesore-locusmag-Unwound-cartaigienica-Buiten Westen -armando adolgiso.it-artdish-the-vu-BATHTUB GIN -JHON magazine-bonobo-galleryculture-linguaggioglobale-progettobabele-subsystence-samsaraquarterly-traspi.net-arteecarte-galerieserrano-vicodelferro-woesteweduwe-dimensionearte-braintwisting-topolin-prospektiva-placesofart-falsestart-GLUBIBULGA’ -arti(e)rumori –cafepress-annotazioni-electronic-art-edizioniriccardi-ilbolerodiravel-subculture-arthal-sitart-citizen32-paroladidonna-lilacedius-essendemme-inguine.net- DarkArtists-tangents-cimaisevirtuelle-riflessioni-jackmagazine-Exquisite Corpse -obscurity . webzine -UBQ | Leave Your Fingerprint-Rivista Anarchica Online-bedfordnovel-poemus-Tiscali – Arte-wormsarts-atopiaonline-dorkmag-digizine-pigmag-outsiderink-ROJO®magazine –doubledarepress-

redfoxpress-HOARD MAGAZiNE -NoTxt Magazine -filtered-magazine-Arts Ablaze Gallery –thewissahickon-doubledarepress-hoardmag-thundersandwich- rockheals-CimarronReview-charnwood-arts-jackmagazine-madhattersreview-Whalelane- BoundlessGallery-oysterboyreview-thewissahickon-invisibleinsurrection-aliens-cafe-masthead-ambulant-roxybar-blank-magazine-funtime.comics- ConArt-lovechess-zafusy- P.F.S.-bigbridge- EOTU Ezine – OK ARTE-SpokenWar- Bant Magazine-Hybrid Studios-lunaticchameleon-fearsmag-Mashnote Magazine –fifthstreetreview-locusmag-theaxis-XERO Magazine-Pulled Up Mag-litvision-inkpots-ESC! Magazine ––Animal Raw Art- Spent Meat- artbarge-buitenwesten-artuindenfair-youandiproductions- ionone-takingitglobal-thepedestalmagazine-Half Empty –iconique-

smallspiralnotebook- Transmission Magazine-sidewalkpoetry-vialmagazine-peaceseed-monophobic-thepoisonedapple-two-zero-Exquisite Corpse –kenagain-HEAD magazine-zerooneart-virtuallyinfamous-BATHTUB GIN – Illustrationmundo,Gambuzine-tenthousandmonkeys-CHANCE MAGAZINE-channel83.gallery-soupskin.- spreadhead- thelemming-prettythings-funhousemagazine-gallery-21-leportillon-raggededgepress-Bonobo galerie –hexvalue-netcells-retortmag-crystaldrum-locomedia-cafepress-Tokyo Cow-kufia-Crack! Fumetti dirompenti -Corps Possibles – Identités Possibles-retortmag-artrecess-johnmagazine-Tiscali – Arte-Roxy Web – Arte-biographic.ubq-deliriohouse-indiejournal-Outsider Ink-latchkey-poopsheet-lamoira-tribenet-linarte-homme-moderne-globevisions-artbabyart-zanzibart-arte.go-sitart-sciacalloelettronico-pseudolo-illu-station-botulinux-lazaruscorporation-lospaziobianco-Federico Feroldi Arte Contemporanea-rockheals-cimaisevirtuelle-americanspiritstudios-Choler Magazine-The House of Tate-artpoetryfiction-otro.it-Outsider Ink-Cimaise Virtuelle -GQ-La Tora Web-Mutate&Survive-Doodlers Anonymous-latchkey.net-Mashnote Magazine –Anteism-vorticeargentina-spreadhead-indiejournal-3rdthought-edificewrecked-galerieserrano-sugardrum-curiousculture-wrath.de-Magpie Magazine-Lazer ArtZine-DoDmag-Dark Sky Magazine,Paraphilia Magazine,New Chemical History,Cut-click Magazine,Dirt Cheap Magazine,GOB Magazine, Inprint-Mag,…
…etc…etc…and the list could continue again a long time…

During the 1999 he was guest of the BREAK 21 FESTIVAL in Ljubliana(Slovenja)…
…His obscure&crazy artworks are present &shown in many,many art galleries in the endless web&in the real world too…and then again at ’’GIRASOLE’’(Villa Basilica),at ’’TABULA RASA’’(Barcellona),at Vahagnartgallery ,at ‘’GALERIE SLAPHANGER’’(Amsterdam),at ‘’La Casa Di Tolleranza’’(Milan),at’’La Cueva-No Art Gallery’’(Milan),at Spazio Aurora(Milan),at Forte Prenestino(Rome),at Andenken Gallery(USA),at’’ HOEPLI INTERNATIONAL BOOKSTORE EXHIBITION SPACE’’(Milan), at Skorie Industriali(Rome),at theMUKY(Faenza), in Turin with the Association’’Mind The Gap’’,at The ‘’Pina Gallery’’(Koper),al ‘’Diesel Gallery’’(NY),at the ‘’METAVERSO’’(Rome),at the”Virtual Shoe Museum”,,at ‘’Little Cakes Gallery’’(NY),at the’’Interzona’’(Verona), at ’’Trainside Gallery’’(Haverhill,USA),at ‘’Blah Blah Gallery’’(U.S.A.),at ’’Scaremongering Gallery’’(USA),at ‘’Sage Club’’ (Berlin),at ‘’Panda Club’’ (Pistoia),at Creativa2006(Rignano sull’Arno-FI-Italy)),CAM_Casoria

Contemporary Art Museum(Casoria,NA,Italy),at ‘’Cultural Association EKIDNA(Carpi-MO-Italy)- at Glowinski’s’ Library(Olesnica-PL), ‘’Da Marisa Gallery’’XM 24(Bo-Italy),’’ Blog on Arthur Rimbaud’’ 2 shows at the Castello di Rivara, near Torino ,and at the the San Carpoforo church, place of the Accademia d’Arte di Brera in Milano, at ‘’Tenax’’ (Firenze),at ‘’Teatro Studio’’ di Scandicci (Firenze),at the Libreria Segnalibro of Ferrara(with the show’’Tarocchi Evoluti’’organized by the Associazione Hermatena),at ‘’Ambasciata di Marte (Florence)’’,at ‘’Klyk’’ (Firenze), at ‘’The Wurst Gallery’’(Portland-U.S.A.)- at Red Labels(Toronto-Canada), at Centre for Graphic Arts HogeDRUKgebied(Rotterdam-NL), at Galerija DLUM(Maribor-SI), at ’’Achab’’(Catania) and at all the other sicilian stops of the show’’SognoDiSegni’’,at Artitude Gallery(Paris),at ‘’Zo Cafè’’(Bologna),at the show” the show”CHILDREN NO MORE”(Bari-Italy),”at the Barcode(San Benedetto del Tronto-Italy),at Circolo Culturale Bertold Brecht(Milano-Italy), NO.HUMAN.NO.CRY(Monza-IT), at Atkinson Art Gallery ( Southport UK),at’’ DYNAMO’’ (Milano-Italy),at the show’’Arredi Digitali’’in San Benedetto Del Tronto and at the shows that GRAPHOLA has organized and continues to organize…at’’Leave Your Fingerprints’’ organized by the friend Mimmo

Manes&UBQ,at ‘’ Fira Magica de Santa Susanna’’(Spain),at”GUAPOPO Gallery”(Spain),at’’Sechiisland’s Micro Gallery’’(Brasil),at ‘’Museum of Porn in Art’’(Zurich),Cranky Yellow(Saint Louis, MO-US),at”Hoody Art Gallery”(London-UK),at’’Black Maria Gallery(LA-USA),at’’Third Drawer Dawn(Australia),at”Green Art Fair Miami 08″,at 3rdthought, at ”Umber Studios”(Minneapolis-USA),,at”Zoccoletti e Zoccolette”(BIOKIP GALLERY @ Pervinca OpenSpace-Milan-It),at ”The Woom Gallery”(Birmingham-UK)-SPAZIO ARKA(Assemini centro (CA)),”SUBject Festival”(Bologna-It),CeC 2009 Uttarakland (India),at ”I MALEDETTI DEL ROCK ITALIANO”(Palazzo del Podestà,Città di Castello-IT),”Human Emotion Project”(Brancaleone,Rome It),”Ocho Delicate Nature”(Milan-It),”Ocho global group exhibition & book”(Barcelona-Spain),at the ”Mezzanine”collective show curated by Chillin’s Productions(San Francisco-U.S.A.),”®out 3ª Mostra Internacional d’Art Urbà Publicitari”(Barcelona-Spain),”Inspiration Art Exhibition 3”(Tel Aviv-Israel),at”Phobia”collective show at the”Gallery’101′(Kaunas-Lithuania),at the”#2AdunanzAutogestitArtisti”(CasalBertone -Rome-IT),at the Italian Institute of Culture(London-UK)…and again..and again to other …He does a lot of mail art and he partecipates to all the mail art projects he knows…

…He has collaborated and he collaborates with many bands of industrial music,noise,experimental&electronic,harsh&death&metal gore…punx…….He has illustrated poems and stories&music of Gavin Burrows,Harry Wilkens,Vittorio Baccelli,Claudio Morici, Alberto Rizzi,Cristiano Quadalti,Shannon Colebank,Gary Sneyd,Robert Smith,Michael Kriesel,Mark Sonnenfeld,Nathan Medema,Richard D.Houff,…drawn together for&with Maurizio Bianchi M.B,Elvi Athan,Marcel Herms,Kapreles……for various publishers he has realized some booklets of illustrations and comics:’’Il Ratto Bavoso’’,and’’L’Incubo Dimezzato’’(Innovation Studio-B.G.A.Comix-Italy);’’Fashion Robot’’(David Lasky-Seattle-USA),’’L’Agnello Sacrificale e la Salamandra Impiccata al Patè 666’’(Medicina Nucleare-Italy);’’Storie’’(Progetto Siderurgiko-Italy),’’Eudemoni’’and’’Piccola Trilogia Nera’’(Poems of Alberto Rizzi and of Cristiano Quadalti with Claudio Parentela’s illustrations -Criatu Prod.-Italy);’’Jeanne Dark You Got Balls’’ and’’The Frogs’ Ballet’’(Self-produced);’’Black Kisses and Other Stories’’,and ‘’The Book Of Secrets’’(La Cafetiere Editions-Belgium);

’’Endless Tongue’’(texts of Richard D.Houff and Claudio Parentela’s illustrations -The Benway Institute-USA),’’Else Beds’’(Claudio Parentela’s illustrations and poems of Nathan Medema-JesusBunny Press-Canada);’’The Savage Soldier’’(Luca Menichini Prod.-Italy);’’Derrumbe’’( Valter Casini Ed.-Italy),’’Matter Ballet’’(Claudio Parentela’s illustrations and poems of Michael Kriesel-BoneWorld Publishing-USA),’’Social Reform’’(poems of Shannon Colebank and Claudio Parentela’s illustrations-Whizzbanger Prod.-USA);’’Le Miopi Della Montagna’’(Underground-Press-Italy).”The Weak Cuckoo”(Gran Negro Publisher-Spain).…He has drawn 2 tarots for’’Tarocchi Evoluti’’(published by Associazione Hermatena-Italy)…and always Hermatena Publishers has published my last and new tarots’ decks”I Tarocchi dell’Iride” and’’I tarocchi Dell’Archetipo Blu’’…and on the web he is present on many pages and in many places again… 

For contacts:

CLAUDIO PARENTELA

VIA F.CRISPI N.79
88100 CATANZARO-ITALY
Tel.Num&FAX.:+39 0961744087-Cell:3713423289

E-Mail: claudioparentela@alice.it — claudioparentela@gmail.com
My Web Sites: https://ilrattobavoso.altervista.org/—https://ibelieveinblackaliens.altervista.org/–https://claudioparentela.wixsite.com/mysite—https://claudioparentela.wixsite.com/mysite—http://parentelaclaudio.altervista.org/– –http://www.myspace.com/claudioparentela —https://twitter.com/cparentela —https://www.instagram.com/cparentela/— https://www.instagram.com/claudioparentela62/–https://www.instagram.com/claudioparentela2/—http://claudioparentela.tumblr.com/— https://www.facebook.com/claudio.parentela.1—http://www.flickr.com/people/49533264@N05/—https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudioparentela/—https://www.talenthouse.com/claudioparentela

My Art Blogs: http://theextrafinger.blogspot.com — http://foggygrizzly.blogspot.com– – http://cparentela.livejournal.com/ —  http://elvisinh.blogspot.com/ — http://thethermostatandthegreendragoon.blogspot.com/ — http://diabeticdew555.blogspot.com — http://cosmiccrystalsdirtypigs.blogspot.com/ —  http://coward33sneeze15.blogspot.com/–http://variationsinnortherndegradations.blogspot.com/

THE WHEEL AND THE WILLOW:  

POTTERY AND POETRY MEET IN 18th CENTURY JAPAN

morning mists
a dream in paint
of people passing
–Buson

For more than a thousand years, poetry has been an essential element of Japanese cultural life.  Waka, the 31-syllable  ancestor of haiku, was written and collected in imperial anthologies for centuries.  In the early 1600s, a small group of potters, painters and calligraphers emerged in Kyoto, then the capital of Japan.  Members of the group synthesized their multiple talents and used the well-known poems to decorate wall-hangings and handscrolls.  

In time, the circle became known as the Rinpa School, named after the later adherent Ogata Korin  (Rin + pa ‘school’).  Korin (1658–1716) is one of the acknowledged giants of Japanese art. Among his major paintings are a six-fold screen of the waves of Matsushima and the paired, twofold screen God of Wind and God of Thunder.  

Korin, God of Wind and God of Thunder

Early 18th century, 421.6 cm x 464.8 cm

His masterpiece, the paired, twofold screen Red and White Plum Blossoms, is a designated National Treasure.

Korin, Red and White Plum Blossoms

Early 18th century, 156 cm x 172.2 cm each

Rinpa is still regarded today as one of the major movements in the long history of  Japanese art.  
In the following examples by two of the founders of the school, the calligraphy skills of the potter and tea ceremony student Hon’ami Koetsu (1558 – 1637) are displayed with underpaintings by Tawaraya Sotatsu (c. 1570 – c. 1640) to produce striking imagery in ink, silver and gold:

Early 17th century, 18.3 cm x 16.3 cm

The autumn moon shines brightly
upon the mountain
illuminating every fallen colored leaf 
–Anonymous   

Early 17th century, 19.7 cm x 17.1 cm

At the break of dawn
a skiff rides the
rapids of the river,
as the boatman’s sleeves
drift in the autumn mist
–Koga Michiteru

Emphasizing the autumnal subject of  the poem, the underpainting in this piece depicts chrysanthemums and mist in gold flakes and gold dust

Early 17th century, 18.3 cm x 16.3 cm

In the harbor where the waters converge, 
the waves are deep red
 as the floating autumn leaves swirl and eddy
–Sosei 

Early 17th century, 32.8 cm x 40 cm

I do not know if you 
will always be true. 
This morning after you left, 
I recalled your vows to me
looking at my long black hair 
so disheveled—
 like the tangles in my heart.
— Taikenmon-in no Horikawa  

Named among both the Thirty-Six Women Poetic Geniuses and the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses of the Late Classical Period, Taikenmon-in no Horikawa was a palace lady-in-waiting to Empress Taiken and a consort of Emperor Toba.  Sixty-six of her poems are included in imperial waka anthologies. 

Paired woodblock print of the poetess by Nishikawa Sukenobu

1731, 21 cm x 32.4 cm 

Following the path of Koetsu and Sotatsu, Ogata Kenzan (1663—1743) introduced literary art to ceramics.      

Kenzan, said Richard Wilson, a professor of Japanese art “was no ordinary potter.  The scion of a highly cultured Kyoto  family, he spent his early adulthood pursuing Zen and studying Chinese poetry and calligraphy.  When he finally took up ceramics at age thirty-seven, it  wasn’t to display manual skill but rather to  translate the world known to him into ceramic design.”    The work was revolutionary in concept and execution. 

Kenzan, Clay Tray

ca. 1720, 22.5 cm x 24.8 cm
“Desolate sprays, unyielding, defy the frost“ 

Kenzan’s unconventional work and willingness to challenge rivals in the marketplace won him great commercial success for much of his life.  Notes to  a recent exhibit provide a flavor to his work:
His most powerful weapons in that fierce competition were his fresh new designs, based on concepts created by his older brother, Korin. Mukozuke dishes with designs bordering their rims or wide-mouthed bowls that capture the moment when a stream is racing along, transcending the boundary between the interior and exterior: even today, his ideas, cutting across between the three-dimensional and the flat, seem new and full of playful inspiration. 

Two plates from a series comprising a ceramic calendar demonstrate Kenzan’s technique and poetic sensibilities.  A scene representing the month was painted on the face of the plates.  Two  poems by Fujiwara Teika are glazed on the bottom of the plates, one for the flower associated with the month, and one for the bird associated with it.  While Kenzan reaches for “three perfections” of painting, poetry and calligraphy in this mode, the items were meant for  functional use.  “The users,” said Wilson, “presumably enjoyed identifying the texts and images and trading their knowledge with companions.” 

Kisaragi
The Second Lunar Month
Early 18th century, 20.32 cm x 17.98 cm

Cherry Blossom

The February sky of cherry blossoms,
Fragrant reflections
On the sleeves of passers-by;
Sprigs in their hair.

Pheasant

A spring time hunter,
His trail in the mist.
The cry of a pheasant
Calling his mate. 

Shimotsuki 
The Eleventh Lunar Month
Early 18th century, 20.32 cm x 17.98 cm

Loquat

Greenless fields
Of wintry days,
Loquat blossoms on evergreen branches—
Or, is that a frost?

Plover

Plovers chirp on
Shoals in the Kamo River.
From the moonlight
The hills play hide and seek.  

One major literary source Kenzan drew upon for his work  was the Enki-kappo, a popular anthology of Ming Dynasty poetry translated from the Chinese into Japanese in the 1650s.  But a more important source was the poetry written by the Japanese Buddhist priest Sanjonishi Sanetaka, who lived from 1455 to 1537:

Spring Moon 

How many more years must I grow older? 
There’s no mist tonight , but the moon appears so blurred. 

Kenzan’s own art and poetry were heavily  influenced by Sanetaka.    For Kenzan, autumn was a recurring theme:

Kenzan, Maples and River

Edo period, 18th century, 30.5 cm x 43.1 cm 

Kenzan, Autumn Ivy, 

after 1732, 21.3 cm x 27.6 cm 

Though not yet
winds through the pines
blow all around
and I dread they’ll scatter
the crimson leaves of ivy.     

After collecting matsutake mushrooms with a group of friends in 1692:

Like Xie Lingyun [of ancient China],
Leaving my hut in mindless haste
For a mountain temple, barren with fallen leaves,
While still lost in high-minded amusements,
The temple bell tolls the day’s end. 

In 1962, Bernard Leach, ‘the Father of  British studio pottery,’ made his fifth pilgrimage to Japan and chanced upon what first seemed like a startling discovery—a spectacular trove of 160 Kenzan ceramics and eight notebooks covering a period of 15 months when Kenzan was in his mid-70s.   There were immediate allegations that the items were fakes, but Leach was convinced of their authenticity. 

Now regarded as forgeries by most but not all critics , the notebooks contained pottery designs, descriptions of his work and materials, and stories of his hosts, characterized as Men of Tea, poetry, painting and pottery.  Nostalgic waka and haiku punctuated almost every page. Falsely attributed to Kenzan or not, the poetry maintains a certain merit of its own.  As translated by  Leach:

The flowers of summer are gathered in festival;

How pleasant a quiet cup of sake.

A man leading a horse,

The autumn wind blows through its mane.

A priest sweeps pine needles

In cold autumn rain.

Over the notes of a flute,

The light snow falls. 

From out of dead trees

Circle the rooks;

The moon takes their place.

The snows are melting

On the hills,

Nightingales sing again

As they did in Kyoto.

And one that Leach suggested was a self-portrait of the potter:

Amongst a group  of willows
There is always one that does not sway with the breeze. 

Kenzan never married, though he adopted one son and later fathered another with a young Kyoto woman of the Miyazaki family.  Both sons became potters themselves.   Absent the master’s hand and diluted by imitators, the Kenzan style lost some of its luster in the mid-1700s.  Sakai Hōitsu (1761—1829) is credited with reviving the brand in the 19th Century.   The style continues to resonate artistically and commercially. 

Toward the end of his life, Kenzan moved from Kyoto to Edo, where he enjoyed the friendship and support of his greatest patron, Prince Kōkan, abbot of the wealthy Buddhist Rinnōji temple.  Kōkan died in 1738 at the age of 42.  Three years later, Korin’s widow, Tayo, with whom Kenzan had an abiding friendship, also died.  Having outlived patrons and friends, Kenzan’s last years were no doubt touched by some measure of loneliness.  He moved a final time to Fukugawa on the banks of the Sumida River outside Edo on what is now called Tokyo Bay.  He died in 1743 after a short illness, alone in his rooms at a boarding house owned by a timber merchant.  His modest departure from the physical world belies the enduring legacy he left behind to generations of Japanese artists and potters. 

Two death poems are inscribed on his gravestone.  The first is a Buddhist epigram:

Pleasure and pain once passed
Leave naught but dreams.

The second speaks more closely of the man:

All my life through
These eighty-one years
I have done what I wished
In my own way:
The whole world

In a mouthful. 

Kenzan, Plum Trees

First half of 18th century, 113.98 cm x 292.42 cm 

Russell Streur

Holder of two awards for excellence from the Georgia Poetry Society, Streur is the author of Fault Zones (Blue Hour Press, 2017) and his work is included in the anthology of Georgia poetry Stone, River, Sky (Negative Capability Press, 2015).  He is currently the editor of the on-line eco-poetic journal, Plum Tree Tavern, located at https://theplumtreetavern.blogspot.com/

…

small flame

atop a sturdy wick

yellow crocus

# # # 

stuck at the top

of the seesaw

fledgling

# # #

Corey D. Cook’s sixth chapbook, Junk Drawer,was published by Finishing Line Press in 2022. His poems have recently appeared in *82 Review, Akitsu Quarterly, Black Poppy Review, Duck Head Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, Naugatuck River Review, Nixes Mate Review, South Florida Poetry Review, and Spare Change News. New work is forthcoming in Freshwater Literary Review. Corey lives in East Thetford, Vermont.

No Loving Conversion Likely


the stuttered transaction

buff grows bright to give



                   more islet heating



a saturation foundation

          matriarch occlusion

below



          that loud enchilada

          snoring earless to soot



     vary a metier 

     surround the disease 



                      classification trampling





                                  (  )



		

leotard peninsulas

warmly recumbent

honed caliper men



              a monogram portent

              their hierarchical tipster measured



                        loose bits dark



  left to suffer a confused nodal portent



            quaking derision



                                       discharging the swipe





                                  (  )





then saturation thanks

before its brewers fin a winger                 

     of cultural radish



                  bent appointment ventures

                  aching the succulent droop



          perplexity encouraged grated theocracy



                                  to

                                  a reclusive vertigo 



                      its intended folly

                      watching for histories deferred






Hard Water



intimidating laundry

the inimical peasants cast

of thousands pored



            per square inch



raging 

           the shallow intimate

           through 

                        forced declamation



               rum vagaries inept

               at transfer flagons



           no lantern 

                            comes

                                         too soon





                     *



  for                     comfort



           wonder



               or

     

            winter



           allowed 

  

     a sneaky pastime

     remembered cleanser scent

     last, the shaded

                      

          horde of hinting

               elation

                          eking

fast line gorges

along the marrow plane



                     *



the lines converge

it surges its bone-sucking orgy



on wandering

crescents wet yet divergent





           as

               any

                     angle



           strike



bragging 

empty pleasantries



     soft

     as the sand 

     in the river 



                        wash



cackled 



              inimical tidings 



                                        to the current





Dropping the Ball


      1.



a pelota 

simulacrum for raffle 

            or rescue



included venom throttles



     toned scraping 

     exploded uses



              sycophantic

              as the empty grip



baring shaken 

before their metaphor blazer



     a retrofit lunatic 

     steaming a fetal caddy rim

     forking tunnels



             alongside usage latrines 



where distention refusals 

prolonged postponing belligerents



     dispose 

                   thermal cacophony 

     educate 

                   natal gaffe dragons



           to their vocation



                 2.



before encrypted withdrawals 

ferment the dubious underlings

their ballad affiliates will breed 



              forever 



                           express bristles

                           barter the groping circuit



              grimly

    

                           dissimilar to a wilding rant

                           the expectorant a missing 



                                       deuce voice 

                                       borne recumbent 



                             to a confrontation statesman      



                 3.



the nautical scaffold

turns finished landscape

     firing

   

             generation textile crises 

             before experienced play   



                  pelota comes                

                  horned in caramel



umber broaches

a scripted eventuality



     puddle hippies 

     cow the slipping pineal

                           at will



weakened entity feels the hollow



         tinted around

         its invective mirage



            missing suffer throttles 

                 in the simulacrum cushion loop

                 no raffle no rescue



face 



        the collective punctuality

                         

                                                of tomorrow





Snake Oil Enforcers


legacy doctors 

interrogate every mamba wrapper

labor no return 



buttress knots missing gluten



wrapper heading

crosses murals at the pablum bar

no fortitude express 



hooting a salami fortress



better left

for saying rather than

turn right



under the riot of interrogation 





Railing Toward Shore



bugbear vignette

slowed the scoreboard snatching

corpulent railways



spine borders

a garbled eyelash plunging to color

dangle hazing



the bartenders

waged paramour encroachments

pillowcase doubling



vigor fountains

trip a yawning mound prosaic

the nitwits climb



defeatist vigor

strata antler whereabouts

gleam the past



no serpentine

linguist scratches effervescent

on moonlight



tattle regimen 

near the summation unveiled

a feldspar lecture



essay finalist

a bicoastal maniac rose

flatly baffled



before waterline

plunges breed the convectional


foreground rise







BIO

Vernon Frazer’s most recent publications are Avenue Noir, a C22 Open Edition, and Gulf of the Purple Enigma, an Alien Buddha paperback.