The Beautiful Foolishness - by Wayne Lee (Paperback)

About the Book

Wayne Lee's poetry runs from koans to haiku and other forms designed to delight and inspire contemplation. His work, widely published in journals, here invites the reader into a world where Asian poetic traditions meet the U.S. Southwest.

Book Synopsis

Early in The Beautiful Foolishness is a tongue-in-cheek poem called "Ten Koans," but you quickly discover that there are far more koans in Wayne Lee's book than ten. In fact, the koan-that brief paradoxical statement used in Zen Buddhist meditation-runs throughout the book, as do Zen philosophies and haiku, of which there's an entire section. The point? To make you slow down and contemplate. Lee's poetry, widely published in journals and anthologies, here invites the reader into a world where these Asian poetic traditions meet the U.S. Southwest.

Review Quotes

"Wayne Lee's poetry locates the writer's self in a world full of both trouble and beauty. Birds and animals appear as stanzas unfold, as if conjured by the poet's quiet presence. Snakes, fish, a five-point buck, and above all birds serve as messengers of inspiration. This collection has many muses, including flavors of Buddhism, and moments that yield haiku. Subjects from Brahms to hydrangeas flash across the poet's consciousness, inviting not just the poet but the reader to wake up, pay attention, and hear the lyric music of words." -Miriam Sagan, author of What Solitude Sees in Me: Uncollected Poems 1976-2023

"The poet leads us through this broken world, where there are vestiges of paradise all around, while our limited, beautiful, ridiculous mortality defines our experience. Lee's poems are hands reaching out, a hug about to happen. Allow yourself to follow the invitation and feel the embrace of The Beautiful Foolishness." -Michelle Holland, author of Chaos Theory and The Sound a Raven Makes

"If you delight in wondrous lines and musings, you will cherish Lee's short paradoxical poems and images where you can deliberate, ponder, and expand." -Scott Wiggerman, author of Beginning and Ending with Emily: Ghazals & Golden Shovels

"Each of Wayne Lee's poems is a hand-cut koan of flagstone set carefully into a garden path. Smooth to the foot, yet solid. A path that challenges us from the very start.... Allow these poems to speak to you, to breathe with you, to simmer on your stove, to sear you with their brilliance." -Katherine DiBella Seluja, author of Point of Entry and Gather the Night