The first step (...or Arbit Theory for the week)

Yesterday , full enthu , I went to a poetry reading at Books Actually .
Talking to curlumnist there , after I had read out a piece from the
Mumon-kan .....and from the kind of rambling that I indulge in during these occasions , it kinda made sense.
Keyword - Kinda.

Is the purpose of literature to understand?

If the purpose of zen practice is to perceive and not interpret.....to make the leap from understanding to realization , then , is literature the first step?

On a related topic ,check out these poems ,one by CP Surendran and then one from Mumon

***

Prospect

While you were sleeping
A dog yawned in the sun
And in the distance,
A train, blindfolded by a tunnel,
Window by window
Regained vision.
I thought of all the things
That could happen
When we are looking away,
The universe we miss in a blink.

***

No.21 Mumon-Kan

Lightning Flashes,
Sparks Shower.
In the blink of an eye
You have missed seeing.