Hokusai
the unrivaled master
of woodblock print lived his
later years in Shinshu
Old Nagano
Enshrined by the lofty ranges
that have always set
wanderers to dream

Each morning post ablutions
and incense laden rounds of
prayer he’d set out and beat
the dusty paths into the
upland abode of the gods

One afternoon as the landscape swept his
wakeful heart he perceived the hills
alive in his breast,  swelling with the breath
to crest on snowy summits in that space
just before exhalation where all stands still.
Breath flowed out and
the mountains curled and
fell thunderously into dust.

He wandered home
the old imperative
inside singing

That evening the peaks
still rolling in his chest
he sat at his bench
raised his brush
and painted waves

Hokusai's Peaks

Part #2: https://soundcloud.com/radiozora/spoken-beats-vol13-the-dharma-bums-part-2-jack-kerouac

The Dharma Bums is Jack Kerouac’s second most popular book. It is a triumphant celebration of free love, wilderness adventures and bohemian companionship, perfect for Buddhist meditation. This musically illustrated version is read out by Allen Ginsberg. 

Jack Kerouac, best known for his novel that later became a true American classic, On the Road, is one of the foremost pioneers of the 1950’s Beat Generation. 

SPOKEN BEATS is a musically illustrated spoken word series highlighting seminal members of the Beat Generation who count as the spiritual and intellectual founders of the Bohemian hippie culture of the 60’s and so the psychedelic world we are a part of today.


Hokusai's Peaks

guehla

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