In Front of the Dead Tree Cliff, Flowers Are Always Blooming

What Is It?

Something is always vast and still, something is always blooming—the joys and pains of life, of forgetting and remembering.

Gifts are outside of usual commerce and exchange. What is it to receive one? What comes with that?

In one case, an irascible forklift driver delivers a hundreds-year-old olive tree. Life is a gift—just accept it, like the flowers at the foot of the cliff.

Many ancient societies have gift cycles: Papua New Guinea’s Kula Ring cycle of ritual trade, the Potlatch of the Kwakiutl. The most valuable thing in the village was given away in a cycle.

John Tarrant reads Denise Levertov’s poem, The Gift. 

Sunday Zen dharma talk on February 12, 2023—includes music from Michael Wilding, Amaryllis Fletcher, and Todd Geist. (complete session)