Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.
– Salvador Dali

 

The Kintsugi Cup

At the juncture of Perfection and imperfection,
Lays Immaculate Imperfection.

There, even the wounded and broken,
Emanate Blessings to all.

There, even those crushed in sorrow,
Are breathless with Bliss.

There, even those moving in desire,
Breathe Fullness and Completion.

There, even those grasping endlessly,
Know Surrender and Grace.

There, even those not yet perfected,
Live beyond the Hell of perfect and imperfect.

This can only be grasped,
If you stand…

Where Heaven and Earth Embrace,
And Perfect Love imbues Imperfection,

Like a kintsugi cup,
Shattered and broken,

Imperfections… not hidden,
But Illumined.

Ineffable Sublimity,
Immaculate Imperfection.

– Chuck Surface

 

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Chuck Surface has a cyber-oasis of poems at gardenofthebeloved.com

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Kintsugi: The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold.

The tea bowl above, made by Hon’ Ami Koetsu (1558-1637), is called Seppo, which means Snow-capped Mountain. One of the most outstanding Japanese artists of the early 17th century, Koetsu was famous for his tea aesthetics, landscape gardening, poetry, lacquering and pottery.

This very famous tea bowl was repaired with gold varnish. The cracks in the bowl were filled with a type of resin, then lacquered and covered with gold powder. The repairs were given the poetic interpretation of melting snow and streaming water, hence the name ‘Seppo’.

Collection: Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art, Japan.

Beauty in the art of repair – an informative article about traditional Kintsugi repair.

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