Review
Previous anthology, O TASTE AND SEE: FOOD POEMS won the 2004 American Poetry Anthology Award.

Book Description
Thirty of America's best Zen Buddhist poets come together in this new anthology of contemporary writing. Each with a photo, biographical sketch, Statement of Zen and Poetry, and at least 5 poems. 16 page introduction by Smith and McNiece set it up nicely for a rich gathering.

From the Publisher
This is a much overdue and much anticipated collection of some of our best American Zen poets.

About the Author
McNiece is a poet and performer with 5 books of poetry. He directs Page-to-Stage Productions and works as a "poet-in-the-schools." Larry Smith is a faculty emeritus in English and humanities from Bowling Green State University's Firelands College. He writes on and translates Buddhist writings. He is also a novelist and poet. His most recent title is SONGS OF THE WOODCUTTER: ZEN POEMS OF WANG WEI AND TAIGU RYOKAN.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From the Introduction...to America Zen “Outside the Box, Inside the Circle” In gathering this loose sanga of contemporary American poets, we discovered much about the nature of Zen Buddhist art and its impact on America and its poetry. Some of which we’ll share here; much of which you will discover for yourself in your reading of these poems and personal Zen statements. Three main streams of the Zen outlook and aesthetic flow into the river of American poetry: the teachings and practice of Buddhism in America, the writings of older American Zen poets, and the translations of ancient Zen writings into English, typically by modern and contemporary poets…—Larry Smith So this diverse American sangha continues to sit and chant amid the frenetic activity of America . . . In general, America looks on poetry as it does Zen—as a useless, unnecessary waste of time; meanwhile it finds meaning in the superficial flash of televised samsara, looking for the new and improved, the bigger and better. And still we sit, write, and recite, wide open to a sky full of fiery flowerets comprising the jewel in the lotus. The stars shine from webs spun by Whitman’s noiseless, patient spider. We spin forth these filaments, these breaths of light, gossamer strands disappearing.—Ray McNiece

FROM THE PUBLISHER