Tom Sharp

The I Ching Tom Sharp

This book is inspired by the great and ancient book The I Ching. When casting a hexagram, each line may be yang, yin, or changing, that is, old yang becoming yin, or old yin becoming yang. Reading the hexagram without the changes gives the primary meaning; reading the hexagrams with the changes gives a secondary meaning. This is why most of the poems in this book have secondary titles and maybe alternative interpretations. I tossed coins and reckoned the subject of each poem first by carefully reading text for the chosen hexagrams and second by examining the reading's application to my life and interests. The desired result in each case was a poem to honor what I have been given. A good reading balances the archetypal with the personal. I hope that these poems reflect both. Otherwise, we cannot always merely invent; we must search for and work hard to understand the great teachings.