Sunday, August 01, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (26) 


MOON IS TO

Moon is to
moonlight as

paper is to
poem,

the old monk said.

~

HOW FAR

How far can you go
before you lose
the mountain,
before the mountain
loses you,
the old monk wondered.

~

WHAT SOMEONE OFFERS

What someone offers you
is not what they're offering,
the old monk says.

~

WHAT IS THAT WAY

What is that way
seems that way,
the old monk says.
It can't be otherwise.

~

HURRY

Hurry
and you fall
farther behind,
the old monk says.

~

IF I COULD

If I could play
basketball,
do you think
I'd be a monk,
the old monk
asked them.

~

HALF A DOZEN

Half a dozen
is a long way
to saying six,
the old monk says.

~

IF YOU KEEP

If you keep
listening,

the old monk said,
you will figure

it out, the
silence.

~

THE QUESTION IS

The question is,
the old monk says,

how much do you
have to want

before you have
enough?

~



# posted by Tom Montag @ 6:00 PM

IN SOME LANGUAGE (61) 


In some language
the word for bucket
also means emptiness.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 9:05 AM

Friday, July 30, 2021

GIVE 


Give the autumn
leaves to what
the wind allows.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 6:38 AM

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

SWAYBACK 


Swayback barn,
the darkness inside.

The wood thinks
of the earth.

The trees there
think of the wind.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 8:21 AM

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

OLD MAN 


Old man headed west.
The world keeps turning.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 8:00 AM

Monday, July 26, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (60) 


In some language
the word for yes
also means
on my mother's grave.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 9:29 AM

Sunday, July 25, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (25) 


YOU WAIT

You wait long enough,
the wind comes again,
the old monk says.
That's patience.

~

WHAT LETS YOU

What lets you
fall so far

down is what
lifts you up,

the old monk
promised.

~

IF YOU SPEND

If you spend your time
talking like a monk
people might think that
you are a monk,
the old monk said,
but he didn't mean
to sound like that.

~

THAT PARALLEL

That parallel
universe --
it's right here.
Touch it,
the old monk said.

~

AT SUCH A MOMENT

At such a moment
it all lets go,
the old monk says,
let go with it.

~

THE SHADOWS

The shadows that went
up the mountain
this morning are
coming down tonight,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU COULD BE

If you could be
both and neither,
the old monk said,
you would be the one.

~

I KNOW IT

I know it,
the old monk said.
Sometimes I just
don't see it,
I don't say it.

~

THIS IS THE WAY

This is the way
it'll work,
the old monk said.
You show me
you can fly,
you can have
the job.

~

DON'T WRITE IT

Don't write it down
if you think it's
important,
the old monk said.
Live it.

~

I COULD GIVE YOU

I could give you
a good deal,
the old monk said,
but then you might
think you cheated.

~


# posted by Tom Montag @ 6:00 PM

Friday, July 23, 2021

ENOUGH MOON 


Enough moon
the pines will be speaking.



# posted by Tom Montag @ 8:25 AM

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