{"id":787,"date":"2009-09-04T13:20:08","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T13:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html"},"modified":"2009-09-04T13:20:08","modified_gmt":"2009-09-04T13:20:08","slug":"dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html","title":{"rendered":"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Big nasty-looking blue-black hornet<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; with obscene dangly stinger<br \/>weaves in &amp; out<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of rusted white Chevy&#8217;s dented <br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; front grill&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pancake flat back tire tilts the rig<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; cobwebs around the plough <br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i> (10:50 am)<\/i><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s a Tyler Doherty poem.&nbsp; From his collection <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spdbooks.org\/Producte\/0971193525\/bodhidharma-never-came-to-hatboro-and-other-poems.aspx\">Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro<\/a>.<\/i>&nbsp; Doherty is a product of both Daido Loori&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mro.org\/zmm\/\">Zen Mountain Monastery<\/a> and Trungpa&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naropa.edu\/academics\/graduate\/writingpoetics\/index.cfm\">Kerouac School of Poetics at Naropa University<\/a>.&nbsp; He&#8217;s an American Buddhist poet, and he&#8217;s got good stuff.&nbsp; (Full disclosure: I met Tyler at a Shambhala meditation retreat in Philadelphia a few years ago.)<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nHere is where I hear the dharma in Doherty:<\/p>\n<p>In his Zen-like koans:<\/p>\n<p><i>Right Effort<\/i><\/p>\n<p>How find glasses<br \/>without glasses?<\/p>\n<p>In his brevity and humor:<\/p>\n<p><i>Poetry Equals<\/i> <\/p>\n<p>I waited around all day for this?<\/p>\n<p>In his occupying that space where thinking mind is no longer a big deal:<\/p>\n<p>from <i>Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;thought&#8217;s all bark no bite<br \/>ever-seductive hurly burly<br \/>signifying nothing arf arf&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes the view comes through loud and clear:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;life universe everything marvelous<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp; Technicolour swarm of phenomenal blips<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; best regarded as dream&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 down<br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9,999 to go<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>9-9:VI:02&#8243;<\/p>\n<p><\/i>But what most strikes me in Doherty is his naturalism and his ecology.&nbsp; In Doherty&#8217;s view, the only true time is natural time, is the earth&#8217;s time, is a time looping over mountains and oceans.&nbsp; And as in the hornet poem above, Doherty is always observing the natural world, the comings and goings of the non-human world.&nbsp; In the introduction to his book, someone says of Doherty, &#8220;This guy goes out &amp; learns the fucking grasses.&#8221;&nbsp; But Doherty&#8217;s naturalism is not the same as Synder&#8217;s.&nbsp; Because Doherty&#8217;s is more firmly rooted in the everyday life of suburbia, of Hatboro, Pennsylvania.&nbsp; There is a swallowtail butterfly here, but there is also Smokey Robinson on the radio, a Fourth of July poolside scene, and the advertising lingo that so dominates our psyches, &#8220;Tyler comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.&#8221;&nbsp; In the above poem, there is both the hornet <i>and<\/i> the Chevy, and that works for me.<\/p>\n<p>For more, check out <a href=\"http:\/\/jacketmagazine.com\/22\/doher-schell.html\">Doherty&#8217;s excellent review of Andrew Schelling&#8217;s book of poems<\/a>.&nbsp; And if you do find Doherty&#8217;s slim volume in your hands one day, be sure to check out the masterpiece therein, namely, the eight page poem &#8220;Autobiography&#8221;, in which Doherty writes:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Tyler is one napkin under Garble, unquenchable in the sun.<br \/>Tyler should be regarded as a star at dawn, a bubble in a <br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a <br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; <i>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Big nasty-looking blue-black hornet&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; with obscene dangly stingerweaves in &amp; out&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of rusted white Chevy&#8217;s dented &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; front grill&#8211; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pancake flat back tire tilts the rig&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; cobwebs around the plough &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (10:50 am) That&#8217;s a Tyler Doherty poem.&nbsp; From his collection Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro.&nbsp; Doherty is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Big nasty-looking blue-black hornet&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; with obscene dangly stingerweaves in &amp; out&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of rusted white Chevy&#8217;s dented &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; front grill&#8211; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pancake flat back tire tilts the rig&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; cobwebs around the plough &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (10:50 am) That&#8217;s a Tyler Doherty poem.&nbsp; From his collection Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro.&nbsp; Doherty is&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-04T13:20:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Griffin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty - One City","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty - One City","og_description":"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Big nasty-looking blue-black hornet&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; with obscene dangly stingerweaves in &amp; out&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of rusted white Chevy&#8217;s dented &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; front grill&#8211; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pancake flat back tire tilts the rig&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; cobwebs around the plough &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (10:50 am) That&#8217;s a Tyler Doherty poem.&nbsp; From his collection Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro.&nbsp; Doherty is&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html","og_site_name":"One City","article_published_time":"2009-09-04T13:20:08+00:00","author":"Paul Griffin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html","name":"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty - One City","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-09-04T13:20:08+00:00","dateModified":"2009-09-04T13:20:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/8dcce5e3b03fb48c0674e39b24efc681"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/09\/dharma-poetry-tyler-doherty.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dharma Poetry: Tyler Doherty"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/","name":"One City","description":"The Interdependence Project","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/8dcce5e3b03fb48c0674e39b24efc681","name":"Paul Griffin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f5a\/f5aa90c7de7cf6ec82a556c31ef3bcefx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f5a\/f5aa90c7de7cf6ec82a556c31ef3bcefx96.jpg","caption":"Paul Griffin"},"description":"Born in Baton Rouge, raised in Philadelphia, Paul Griffin is a writer, scholar and tutor working and living in New York City. He writes book reviews for The Brooklyn Rail. His poetry and fiction can be found on his website: http:\/\/thepennies.blogspot.com. He believes enlightenment is real.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/author\/pgriffin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}