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by Andrew Fitzsimons (Author)
The Tsurezuregusa is a collection of wise, witty, compassionate and, occasionally, cranky ruminations on the business of living by the monk, Kenko (c1283-c1350). The poems in What the Sky Arranges speak in a voice and tell of things derived from Kenko: reading, travel, good and bad taste, exile, art, art bores, technophobia, scandal, sex, gardening, game theory, graveyards, friendship, death, the moon . . . "Tender, philosophical, disabused, these poems are a putting in order of 'the business of life'. Worked from The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko they are wide-awake, alert, moving from joy to disgruntlement, from bleak advice to quiet celebration: the kind of poetry that gets written in the early hours of the morning when the poet remembers the dates on gravestones. The poetry is in the detail, the things that are all too easy to miss (maple leaves, wisteria, 'morning glories on a low fence, / not too high, and not too many', the waxing and waning moon, 'what the sky arranges'), and equally in the subtle music of Andrew Fitzsimons' language." (Peter Sirr) "A truly wonderful sequence of poems, combining a lightness of touch with great depth and resonance, and one to be enjoyed in the words of the work itself 'under the lamp alone / a book spread out before you: bliss'. Absolute bliss, indeed." (David Peace) "These poems are really stunning: shafts of truth, beautifully crafted. The way they link Eastern and Western traditions of precision and eloquence is magical." (Bernard O'Donoghue) "Gently witty, wise, finely phrased variations on Kenko's themes. A pleasure to read and reflect on." (Royall Tyler) The thirty poems are complemented by nine striking drawings by the well-known Italian artist, photographer and designer, Sergio Maria Calatroni, now resident in Tokyo.
