90 pages. 10410 words. Prae Scriptum is a poetry collection that delves into the depths of human nature while gesturing towards the inexpressible reality that underlies this. Covering a variety of styles and subjects despite its brevity, these poems together are intended as a single tapestry of impulses and desires that, being interwoven in a discerning manner, convey something of what’s really of crucial importance at the centre of every person’s life: clarity about themselves. The author hopes that his own observations about himself and the world will, like the works that inspired him most, rouse corresponding perceptions in the reader and a similar sense of epiphany.
Sample Poem]
DAHUI’S DISEASE
The sutras in your library are not overly dusty
You even open them occasionally, taking a moment
To admire some skillful saying
Before closing their books again as a glance
Elsewhere leads you into some
Trivial distraction
Like a fly-fisher tying yourself to the hook,
Your form is perfect as you cast yourself into the sea
You are just someone who ignorantly
Bows to various wooden idols
Into a squandered dust
This is living in a tower and looking at the world below,
This is a frail nobility
Sitting pompously at a window;
Enlightenment though is not seeing through a window,
It is opening up the window
And finally breathing fresh air again
Staring down, the poisons of Hell rise up;
Lifting up one’s gaze,
Heaven’s medicine falls like sunshine
