Ikkyu Sojun treated poetry not as an ornament to practice but as a direct embodiment of Zen realization. Verse became a means of expressing enlightenment, impermanence, emptiness, and non-duality in a way that bypassed abstract doctrine. His poems often functioned like word-koans: short, sharp utterances meant to jolt the mind out of complacent patterns and point toward immediate experience rather than conceptual understanding. In this way, poetry served as a form of dharma expression, standing alongside formal teaching as a vehicle of transmission.

A distinctive feature of Ikkyu’s use of poetry was his iconoclastic voice. He used verse to criticize corrupt monks, challenge institutional Buddhism, and question superficial or merely formal practice. Erotic imagery, irreverent humor, and references to drinking and romantic relationships appear not as mere provocation, but as a way of collapsing the divide between sacred and profane. By integrating such worldly experiences into his poems, he demonstrated that insight could manifest through all aspects of life, rather than being confined to the meditation hall or the ritual space.

His language was often colloquial and deliberately rough, rejecting the polished elegance of courtly verse. This stylistic choice reflected a commitment to what is alive, direct, and honest over what is merely refined or socially acceptable. The poems frequently read as unvarnished snapshots of mind—anger, longing, joy, clarity—presented without cosmetic smoothing. In this sense, poetry became a mirror of consciousness, a spiritual diary that recorded moments of awakening, doubt, and insight as they arose.

Ikkyu also used poetry as a teaching method and as continuous practice. Composed in temples, taverns, brothels, and by the roadside, his verses show that for him, practice was not limited to formal meditation but permeated everyday activity. The same poems that recorded his inner life also served as didactic tools, urging others toward genuine realization rather than attachment to scriptures or external forms. Through this integration, poetry and Zen were not separate pursuits but two faces of a single path: the free, spontaneous articulation of awakening in the midst of ordinary human passions and contradictions.