Monday, October 25, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (43)
DON'T WAIT
Don't wait so long
going home is
a burden,
the old monk said.
~
IF EVERYONE
If everyone
gets what they want,
what's left
is what I get,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN BE
You can be both and neither,
the old monk said,
just not at the same time.
~
Sunday, October 24, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (38)
WRITE IT FAST
Write it fast,
the first draft,
and make up
the rest of it
later on,
the old monk told
the novelist.
~
SOFT AS
Soft as the fur
on a cat's ear,
the light this morning,
the old monk said.
~
EVERYTHING I PROMISE
Everything I promise
you already have,
they old monk told
his promising students.
~
SOME CAN READ
Some can read
the blue code
in the green trees,
the old monk said.
Some cannot.
~
SOMETIMES / THE ONE
Sometimes
the one thing
you say is
the only
thing you can,
the old monk said.
~
IF GOD WANTED
If God wanted you to nap,
why did he send us,
the Jehovah Witnesses asked
at the old monk's door.
~
SOMETIMES IT'S NOT
Sometimes it's not funny
and still you just have to laugh,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT DO YOU
What Do You Do
With a Drunken Sailor --
it's the only song they know
and they sing it all night,
the old monk said.
~
LISTEN TO
Listen to the voices --
one of them will be
a damsel in distress
waiting to be rescued,
the old monk says.
~
IF IT COULD
If it could
be one line
it would be,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, October 23, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (42)
OF COURSE
Of course, I'll
carry it down
the mountain
if you
carry it up,
the old monk said.
~
I'M HERE
I'm here
like I'm supposed to be,
so listen,
the old monk said.
~
DEATH
Death--
sometimes the darkness,
sometimes the silence,
the old monk said.
Sometimes neither.
~
Friday, October 22, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (41)
I COULD
I could tell you,
the old monk said,
but you'd say
I was lying.
~
THE DIFFERENCE
The difference?
the old monk said.
Sometimes the difference
is the same.
~
THAT'S WHAT YOU DO
That's what you do,
the old monk said,
you kiss and make up
before it all goes to hell.
~
Thursday, October 21, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (40)
IF SOMEONE
If someone wanted
to investigate,
the old monk said,
they might find,
indeed,
I sleep til noon.
~
HOW MANY
How many of them
do you think there are,
those angels who
bring you home,
the old monk asked.
~
NOTHING
Nothing
is just what
you want
when you're tired
of everything,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (39)
WHY DO I LIVE
Why do I live
on the mountain
and eat roots
and mushrooms?
If I knew why,
the old monk said,
you wouldn't
have to ask.
~
I WENT
I went to the city for rice,
the old monk said.
I won't go again.
~
THE LONELY PATH
The lonely path
up the mountain
is not so lonely,
the old monk says.
Someone has tramped
this way before me.
~
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (38)
PUT
Put.
What kind of word
is that,
the old monk wondered.
It sounds like the name
of an Anglo-Saxon king.
~
YOU DO THE DEAL
You do the deal
or the devil does you,
the old monk says.
Either way,
be careful.
~
STAND ON THE EDGE
Stand on the edge,
the old monk said.
See if the wind will
push your boundaries.
~
