About this poem:

Poetic Prose

I wrote this piece after reading a comparison of the eastern and western perspectives, by D.T. Suzuki, a Zen Buddhist, on a similar phenomenon.
A Japanese haiku poet, Basho, was walking along a country road when he noticed a wildflower blooming by the hedge. Tennyson, an English poet, observed a flower growing in a crevice in a wall. There is a marked contrast in their reactions.
Basho observes the flower, as it is, in its full beauty and composes a haiku to express his feeling. Tennyson, plucks the flower and holds it in his hand in his attempt to 'understand' it.
Basho sees the 'living' flower and feels its essence as a living thing. He 'becomes' the flower. Tennyson 'kills' the flower thereby seeking to understand a 'dead' flower, devoid of life.
"Life and a living being(thing) can never be separated".