Prae Scriptum
by John Xavier
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A poetry collection, covering a variety of styles and subjects, that delves into the depths of human nature while gesturing towards the inexpressible reality that underlies this.
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
While grinding the bones of your actual parents
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
