Gary Snyder yesterday turned eighty. The American poet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1975, inspired the character Japhy Ryder in the novel "The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac and the author of a work which reflects his Buddhist philosophy and knowledge of nature . We Make Our Vows Together with All
Beings
Eating a sandwich at work in the woods,
As a doe nibbles in snow
buckbrushWatching Each Other,
Chewing together.
A Bomber from Beale
Over the clouds,
Fills the sky with a roar.
She lifts head, listens,
Waits till the sound has gone by.
So do I.