Sunday, 27 October 2019

Trevor J Potter's Art: Japan.(Revised).

Trevor J Potter's Art: Japan.(Revised).: I did not know Mount Fuji was so large. The artist has certainly come up with a powerful image, Part real - part picture postcard. Saili...

Friday, 25 October 2019

The Beautiful Night Dream of Li Qingzhao. From the Chinese (Revised).


I will never forget the time
I was so drunk the beautiful crimson pavilions
Spun about my head like wheeling flamingos.
My late night boat,
Lost among a thousand lotuses,
The flowers so many,
So tightly woven together
It seemed unlikely that we would ever be released
From this kingdom of floating blossoms.
In fear I cried out loudly to the invisible water Buddhas,
How to get free
How to get free
And a whole cliff face of startled egrets
And screeching gulls took flight.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
October 28th. 2019.
A response to the poems of Li Qingzhao, the wonderful Song Dynasty female poet. I fell in love with her original poem, and after reading a strictly word for word translation I responded by writing my very free version. I have made some small additions, especially the flamingos and Buddhas. I was trying to imagine how I, a twenty first century European, would have written this poem as a completely original work of art.

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

Sunday, 20 October 2019

Cranes on the Ground and in Flight, Mount Fuji in the Background.


Dark blue Fuji.
Two Cranes soar up to the peak;
Autumn leaves caught on the wind.

Their companions cackle far below them.
Blue is a melancholy colour;
A dark shroud over our memories.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
October 20th. 2019.

Tuesday, 15 October 2019

Thursday, 10 October 2019

The Silk Road.


The road carrying the jewel of truth
Traverses land and sea, desert and mountain,
On rough tracks and motorways,
Airways and railways,
Stretching from dusty Beijing to rainy London,
From the Hindu heartlands to Szechuan.

The road carrying the jewel of truth
Crosses lakes and rivers, straights and oceans
On ships and bridges, through undersea tunnels,
Transporting smartphones, fabrics and spices;
New ideas whispered in a medley of languages;
Old ideas printed in little red books.

The road carrying the jewel of truth
Has many highways and intricate byways
Dropped like threads of delicate silk weave
Over the nations of Europe and Asia.
Once trod by Nestorians and Buddhist scholars,
Now by the purveyors of mass produced goods.

I despise border guards, all visas and barriers;
But love the multitude of religions and cultures
That bloom on this planet like flowers in June.
My homeland is sick with xenophobic delusions
But the road that carries the jewel of truth
Still glints in the sunlight of my eloquent dreams.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
9th. - 10th. October 2019.

Friday, 4 October 2019

The Offering.


She asked for one flower from my garden,
A single rose to be placed as a prayer
On the family shrine in her suburban home.

I do not know who this woman is,
An Indian lady small as an infant,
Her old skin wrinkled as an autumn leaf,

But when she asked her face was a picture of happiness,
So I allowed her to pick my favourite rose,
The yellow blossom transparent in sunlight.

It was no great kindness for me to do this,
The flowers in my garden are for my neighbours to look at,
A gift of colour these October days.

But because she smiled I allowed her to pick that one blossom,
And take it home into her private world.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter,
October 4th. 2019.

Broken Jug / The Rose.