A Cup

A cup with holes will not hold water;

but it will hold emptiness.

 

A cup without holes will hold water;

it will also hold emptiness.

 

The fool carries water in a sieve;

the scholar carries water in a bowl.

 

The sage carries nothing,

and drinks from the stream.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

We all drink in many different ways, under different mindsets & circumstances. Even tho I can appreciate the wisdom in your message, I feel words such as "fool" and "sage" carry judgment, thus your message is suggesting some ways are better than others.

[FoxgloveLove]

That's a good point. This piece has a lot of influence coming from my studies of Lao Zi in Daoism, so "The Fool" and "The Sage" are different character-types used within that writing. In that sense, I was using it as kind of an homage to that influence.

Thanks very much for your insight, I appreciate it ^^

[FoxgloveLove]

I chose the words in a way that they could be interpreted in many different ways, but I think my favorite way to look at this poem is by seeing "water" as knowledge and the "cup" as the mind.

In some traditions of eastern philosophy, it is considered beneficial to learn to attain clarity by emptying all thoughts, desires, discrimination, and differentiation from your mind. The purpose of the first two stanzas is to show that, while in western tradition a person's value comes from being able to retain and utilize knowledge (i.e. "hold water"), most anyone can learn to empty their mind of prejudice and knowledge in order to attain clarity.

The second part is showing how different character-types (mostly characters used by Lao Zi in his work) tend to behave when it comes to learning and retaining knowledge. The Fool is considered such because, while they attempt to learn and hold onto knowledge, they choose to let it leak out as well. It is counter-intuitive, because while they desire to carry this knowledge, they let themselves forget and make no effort to keep it. The Scholar, on the other hand, attempts to hold onto this knowledge as best as they can, so that they can use it in the future. The (Daoist) Sage, a more complex character that is best understood by reading more Daoist works, does not attempt to carry anything or cling to knowledge at all, and only takes what he needs directly from nature. This poem also works in conjunction with my other poem, "The Scholar and the Sage", which is a commentary on the relation between the western scholars and the Daoist sage.

As I said, though, this is just one possible interpretation of it. It just happens to be my favorite.

[barleygirl]

Thank you for taking the time to explain at such length. I am very interested in such teachings, so your efforts are not wasted on me. I am an empty cup right at this moment, so I cannot comment with anything substantial. But I will return to this, to give it more thought. Thank you so much for such a generous act to share all this with me. Being old & having an injury that impacted my memory, I've been gifted with an inability to hold water, so I'm lucky to drink from the stream each time I'm thirsty. I totally get you, but I'm too blank right now to discuss (((HUGS)))

[barleygirl]

Yesterday, when I read your long explanation (thank you for that), I did not immediately relate to it, as I am not familiar with the term: Daoism. But when I looked it up this morning, I see that you're referring to Tao, which I've studied quite a bit, some years ago. I'm very interested in this, so I'll do more research. Thanks for reminding me of my long-ago attraction to these teachings.

[FoxgloveLove]

I understand, it can be a little confusing. There's been a bit of an attempt to standardize the romanized transliteration of Chinese characters using the pinyin system (which is closer to the actual corresponding pronunciation) rather than the older, more complex Wade-Giles system. Thus, Taoism becomes Daoism, Lao Tsu becomes Lao Zi, and so on.

I'm happy to meet someone else who has studied these philosophies ^^

[Tristin Sky]

Simply but complex beautiful piece!

[John]

A cup, the fool, the sage intertwined with such delicate feelings wrap in deep, bare, unwanted space!

[GalaxyGhost]

People are different. Sometimes some have intentions that may be more efficient, but we are all trying hard to make ends meet in the end. Simple, but good poem!

[Gaia Octavia]

Very nice. Layers of wisdom wrapped in a tiny package. Well done!

[Onyia-Ali, Kingsley Chu..]

Wow, I love the way you presented this poem. Very short but full of meaning. The last stanza struck.

[Amy R]

very beautiful piece!
keep it up!

[Shannon]

A profoundly simple and unique way to take on such a topic. The second stanza especially resonates. That being whole (or healthy, perhaps) does not make one full filled, necessarily. I can think of so many different ways to read this. Thank you.

[Usman Muhammad]

Very beautiful poem. I liked your ideas.
Your ideas are very concise and create no misunderstanding in the reader's mind.
I would love to read your other work soon.

[Death's Poet]

I really like this. You took a concept as simple as drinking from a cup and made it into something so much more than that.

[richieb]

I like this very much, it reminds me of something the great Mark Twain would say. Clever and smart write.