Deep in Nirvana sat the monk
when dragging hell, entered a punk:
angry samurai was not drunk–
“Teach me about hell and heaven!”
“Watch your manners, you noxious skunk!”
“I could kill you–you better dunk!”
“That’s hell, right there, silly old schmuck…
get unstuck to get to heaven.”
Samurai bowed: his rage contained.
He was ashamed; he bowed again.
The monk bowed too; something had changed.
Conquer rage and obtain heaven.
Copyright ©️ selma 2024
In preparation for National Poetry Month in April, Val Murisopsis put together an
NPM Scavenger Hunt – Poems from Around the World!…
…I tried a few in April 2024 and promised to return during the year but couldn’t until today. So this one’s in gratitude to Val, a great encourager in our writing community.
Anyone can join. Click the link to see the lovely prompts.
*18. Kenya: Utenzi –
A Swahili form of narrative poetry comprised of any number of 4 line stanzas.
Each line has 8 syllables with lines 1, 2, and 3 rhyming
and line 4 having a different rhyme
carried throughout subsequent stanzas.
a/a/a/b, c/c/c/b, d/d/d/b….
The theme should be epic battles, heroism, or feats of valor.
I love the lesson in the parable of the samurai and the monk–so apt for our world
today–so I reworked it to fit the prompt. I hope you enjoyed how I made the monk
react to the belligerent warrior and that you saw him smile at himself in the ending
as well.
(well, the monk is human too)
Thanks for reading.
- Utenzi: Conquer Rage, Valorous Heart - January 14, 2025
- Hello @selmawrites, helloselmawrites - January 14, 2025
- 6WSP for Week #120: Foolish - January 13, 2025
Beautiful
love the ‘conquer rage’ advice
Love this poem Selma.
It is brilliant.
This is great fun, Selma
Selma, are you banned from Insta? If so that makes me so mad!
Sorry it wasn’t all roses, but great how you expressed it. Hugs.
Love this and the message, Selma!
We learn off each other, and heaven is possible.