Persimmons, A Painting, A Poem

My mother slipped two Fuyu persimmons into my lunch bag yesterday, a very welcome gift. They are one of my favorite fruits, whose crisp floral sweetness is a rare treat for me. They are also very beautiful in their rich, warm color, and their elegantly shaped, symmetrical leaves.

Mu Ch'i, Six Persimmons, 13th century; ink on paper

This perfect, fresh painting, as alive now as it was when painted hundreds of years ago, inspired a poem by Gary Snyder, "Mu Ch'i's Persimmons":

There is no remedy for satisfying hunger other than a painted rice cake. ––Dogen, November, 1242

On a back wall down the hall

lit by a side glass door

is the scroll of Mu Ch'i's great
sumi panting, "Persimmons"

The wind-weights hanging from the
axles hold it still.

The best in the world, I say,
of persimmons.

Perfect statement of emptiness
no other than form

the twig and the stalk still on,
the way they sell them in the
market even now.

The original's in Kyoto at a
lovely Rinzai temple where they
show it once a year

this one's a perfect copy from Benrido
I chose the mounting elements myself
with the advice of the mounter

I hang it every fall.

And now, to these overripe persimmons
from Mike and Barbara's orchard.
Napkin in hand,
I bend over the sink
such the sweet orange goop
that's how I like it
gripping a little twig

those painted persimmons

sure cure hunger