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Kintsugi
Tarzana Joe is always profound, and I particularly like this poem that appeared today on Facebook. To save you looking it up (although you should, to see some pictures), Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by emphasizing the cracks with gold inlay. It’s not hard to realize that the piece looks better now than before it was broken… and it is a hopeful metaphor for our society.
Broken
by Tarzana Joe
In looking at the headlines
For a theme on which to speak
It stuck me that a pattern
Was apparent during the week
The confident consumer
Had his optimism shattered
But that’s just one of many things
Appearing sad and tattered
San Francisco’s broken
I’m so sorry but it is
The streets there now resemble
The finale of Les Mis
A war in Europe rages
While the President just rambles
Both parties are divided
And the FBI’s in shambles
They fractured female athletes
And because they couldn’t resist
They even added apple pie
And baseball to the list
But before you get despondent
From the words that I’ve just spoken
Think about Kintsugi
There’s beauty in the broken
A Japanese philosophy
That artists have long shared
Which holds that there’s a greater grace
In things that are repaired
It shows that there’s a value
And instills a sense of pride
When something’s resurrected
And not merely put aside
We have our work cut out for us
In times so woke and weak
When unless you’re well protected
It’s so hard to stand and speak
The work may be impossible
Or dangerous or boring
But we had a fragile beauty
And it’s surely worth restoring
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That is beautiful. Thanks, Douglas.
I read it aloud to my wife without previewing the whole thing–taking a chance, what with me not knowing what words were yet to come.
I am proud to say that I almost got the whole way through, only choked on the last word.
‘…surely worth restoring.’
For the Christians, there are apt allusions in the poem. They helped me to see those Scriptures in a new way.
Tarzana Joe is a delight. I discovered him on Hugh Hewitt ‘s radio show, where he is a Friday feature. He has two books out, available on Kindle. I’ve read his verse at dinner tables, to debate teams, and from pulpits.
I’m not much into poetry. At least this one rhymes and I appreciate the message.
But thanks for introducing me to Kintsugi. That is very cool!
Things I like about TJ’s poems are that the meter is simple, the rhymes are clever, and the poems are simple and accessible. I’m not into anything more complicated than Dorothy Parker or Ogden Nash. It seems to me that poems get pretentious when they get complicated. I thought the idea was to communicate.
“Have you no art in your soul?!?”
Try setting up a poetry site to communicate something conservative. It’s great fun, and draws out all the morons who think they know what poetry is. But I agree with you. It is a mode of expression and communication. If it does not communicate, it fails.
Kintsugi is an idea I ran into many years ago. I have thought about it often, especially while repairing things.
I am no artist; merely an old fool, and probably a bigot as well. But words have always been my world. The lovely, biting turns of phrase of Ben Franklin, or Robert Heinlein, or Archie Goodwin, or Big Bill Taft. The mixing of clever lyrics and musical phrases in Michael Franks. The wonderfully horrible puns in Roger Zelazny. The best puns should sneak up on you.
I used to judge presentation events in high school debate. There are few poets that I have gone to the trouble of memorizing so I could present them tournament-style. Dorothy Parker was first, but she’s pretty easy. I have a couple of Garrison Keillor poems handy; even though I have no use for the man, I can separate the artist from the art. And I have memorized some Tarzana Joe. I left an upbeat review for one of his books, after buying a couple for gifts, and he sent me a cheery note. Say that for the Internet, it makes communicating with writers easier.
Have you ever run across Joy Skilmer? His poetry is fun.
No, but I’ll gladly look him up. Thanks!
Tarzana Joe is great. For years, he’s gone on the Hugh Hewitt show once a week with a poem that almost always is in regards to a current issue of the day.
Now Ogden Nash – I could listen to his childrens’ poetry all day!
Coming back to this, most artists are fools. A few are wise enough to know it. Fewer still are not proud of it.
I maintain versus all comers that Ogden Nash was the greatest poet of the Twentieth Century. The man could communicate and always swung for the fences. I like Dorothy as. On the more serious side, I greatly enjoyed John Gardner’s (Grendel and The Life and Times of Chaucer), Jason and Medeia, a long form epic poem in blank verse. He has a blast with the Greek themes for a modern audience. But it was a one time stunt, I guess he realized he could never touch Nash’s greatness.
Thanks for pointing out Kintsugi. Fresh blood.