Solitude
- Martyn Foster
- 15 minutes ago
- 2 min read
It’s not always over the hill and far away…
I recently picked up “Hojoki” by Japanese poet Kamo no Chomei approximately 800 years ago. It’s a Buddhist reflection on solitude, imperfection and transcendence and been used as a source of ancient Zen wisdom ever since. Given how my week has gone I haven’t read any of it yet, but I still felt like composing my own slightly less revered poem on solitude – and considering I haven’t posted any poetry since last year, it’s been enough time between them.
“Solitude” – a poem by Martyn Foster.
There is no day
Nor night
Nor season
Particular to solitude
And yet the conditions are rare
Though not unreachable
A conscious choice, deliberate
You don’t achieve it on a whim
Within your control, though some impose
Your solitudinal swim
A complete sense of peace
A state of oneness with your surroundings
The mind, body, and soul, replenishes
Modernity is ill of these foundings
More seclusion, than isolation
More separateness, than loneliness
The imposition of man and society
On an internal world where the barriers dissolve
The release of contemplation and introspection
Not the burden of ruminating and overthinking
Alone with thoughts, words for the wise
Solitude is not an antidote to pain, but suffering
A hut in the woods,
A small, running river
The fantasy we draw
The primitive being still yearns for (re)connection
Why do we seek it?
What do we seek through it?
Is it a higher call or purpose?
A deeper spiritual connection or just to be?
A state as much as a place
Like Skyrim, it keeps on giving
(Near and) Far Horizons, From Past to Present
May the Wind Guide You, dear friend.
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