Sunday, February 14, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (2) 

 NOTHING IS

Nothing is certain
the old monk says,

until you let go
of knowing.

~

ON THE MOUNTAIN

On the mountain,
when you call my name,

the old monk says,
only crows will answer.

~

I HAVE WRITTEN

I have written
all these lines
these many years,

the old monk said,
to find the one
I'm looking for.

~

IF I WERE

If I were as wise
as you think I am,
the old monk said,

I would already
be a star fixed
high in the sky.

~

WITHOUT LOVE

Without love, yes,
the old monk says,

life goes on. But not
without music.

~

ZEN IS

Zen is
in the things

of this world,
the old monk says,

and beyond them.
It is both

and neither.

~

SO MANY MEN

So many men,
the old monk says,

are busy in
the business

of this world
when what they

should do is
loaf like God.

~

TO BE THIS

To be this,
whatever

this is, and
fully this,

the old monk
says, is

the emptiness
you seek.

There is your
entrance.

~

YOU KEEP FILLING

You keep filling
the emptiness,
the old monk says,

when emptiness is
where joy lives.

~

I WOULD NOT

I would not
keep preaching,
the old monk says,

but you still don't
understand
the stillness.

~



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