This book, for “children and philosophers” has been a staple in our house for years. It’s the tale of a young painter in China and his relationship to the local sorcerer. In one chapter, the sorcerer, teaching the painter to focus, asks him to imagine everything he wants, and the boy thinks of toys and bicycles and a dozen other material things. Then the sorcerer says he needs to banish all those thoughts if he wants to paint.
During the days leading up to Christmas, the streets and stores and online sources are full of anything we might imagine we or someone else could want, and there are plenty of terrible holiday poems to go with it. So here is a little thought from William Stafford to balance things out:
Note
straw, feathers, dust–
little things
but if they all go one way
that’s the way the wind goes
William Stafford (courtesy of Sean the Sharpener)
And of course, you can buy Chi Po & the Sorcerer or William Stafford’s poems online!
