<DIV>At all times Daisaku Ikeda in his poetry expresses unwavering commitment to the development of a humanistic global culture. These translations, the first of a three-volume collection and based on the Japanese Complete Works of Daisaku Ikeda (Ikeda Daisaku zenshu), cover the years 1945–2007, and explore the many subjects to which the leader of Soka Gakkai International has devoted his attention through the inspiration and imagination that flow from his 'poetic heart and mind.' Sometimes the poet adopts a simple vernacular note; at other times the compression associated with Japanese poetic forms haiku and waka. But at all times the poetry maintains a stately rhythm that reflects the dignity of ordinary language and expression. This collection will delight those already familiar with the prose writings of the author as well as those coming to his work for the first time. The poems speak, with freedom and feeling, of a world where poetic perception becomes a perception of interconnectedness: whether between friends, between humanity and nature, or between humanity and the cosmos.</p></div>