Wednesday, March 31, 2021

THE GEESE 


The geese
of November
remember

summer
and wonder
at the chill

which drives them
and the slant

of light which
calls them home.



SOMEWHERE BEYOND 


Somewhere beyond
the blue stars
making promises.



Tuesday, March 30, 2021

THE DOVE TAKES 


The dove takes
sudden flight
and disappears

into the sun.
There is nothing
it doesn't know

of this moment,
except that
the past has

already come
and tomorrow
is not promised.

To be so blessed.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (28) 


In some language
the word for gather
also means basket.



Monday, March 29, 2021

LESSON OF THE SILVER MAPLE 


Throw your seed
wide and wildly
and when autumn

comes, let go
your leaves with
equal abandon.

We are here, it says,
for only
a hundred years.



KNOT, OR 


Knot, or not,
the white oak
screams when split.



Sunday, March 28, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (8) 

 HOLD ON

Hold on
as the universe

spins towards
silence,

the old monk says,
and count

your blessings.

~

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
on the quiet

mountain
the monk's breath

is like wind
in the pines.

~

THE OLD MONK

The old monk
goes up the mountain
with nothing.

He comes down
with everything.

How do you
do that, they ask.

Do what? he says.

~

IN HIS BEST WORK

In his best work
the old monk empties
himself. He strives
for the silence
of stone.

~

AS ABOVE

As above,
the old monk says,

so below,
where sky

touches
the mountain.

~

YES, WE NEED

Yes, we need
something greater

than ourselves,
the old monk says.

That is why
the stars keep

keep coming out.

~

THE TEMPLE BELL

The temple bell
sounds

and fades.

Nothing lasts,
the old monk says,

but sadness.

~

THE OLD MONK

The old monk
bows his head

and speaks to
the great pine.

Grandfather,
he says.

O, Grandfather.

~

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
I'm inhabited

by angels
who jabber,

the old monk
says, sometimes

by those who
know silence.

~

BE PATIENT

Be patient,
the old monk says,
like water
wearing the rock.

~



IN SOME LANGUAGE (27) 


In some language
the word for body
also means blessing.



Saturday, March 27, 2021

OLD POET 


For all his love
of holiness

he was not a saint
but a scoundrel

like the rest of them,
a common poet

who put words first
and loved the stars

and didn't think
much of heaven.



ALL THE BIRDS 


All the birds
coming home--

geese and ducks
and red-wings.

In the distance,
cranes, spring.



Friday, March 26, 2021

THE TREES TALK 


The trees talk all night.
They never sleep.
They hug the earth

and never sleep.
The wind which rattles
leaves does not

frighten them.
Their roots hold each
other in such wind,

hold, I tell you.
The trees talk all night
and wait for light.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (26) 


In some language
the word for patience
also means evening.



Thursday, March 25, 2021

LONESOMENESS 


Morning's
lonesomeness,

not the sound
of the dove

but the O
lost from joy.



CROWS STRETCHING 

 
Crows stretching
across the sky

halfway to wisdom.



Wednesday, March 24, 2021

LITTLE AND LESS 


Little and less,
the wisps of

cloud coming
from the west,

dragging in
all the blue

we can stand.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (25) 


In some language
the word for dance
also means overflowing.



Tuesday, March 23, 2021

LIGHT/HAWK 


Light hides
the light-

colored
hawk free-

loading
on the

wind. Yet
a turn

of wind
reveals

him.



A KIND OF 


A kind of
emptiness
after. Loss
is half of
love.



Monday, March 22, 2021

POET 


The wind walks with you,
whichever direction

you want to go,
and brings with it

what you need. Listen.
It tells everything.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (24) 


In some language
the word for love
also means flying.



Sunday, March 21, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (7) 

 DON'T TURN ASIDE

Don't turn aside
going up the mountain

or coming down,
the old monk said.

You lose yourself
looking away.

~

THESE STRANGE STONES

These strange stones,
the old monk said.

You plant them.
Sometimes they

come up flowers
and sometimes

they don't come
up at all.

~

IF I HAVE TO

If I have to
come down the mountain

to teach you,
the old monk

told his students,
you won't like what

I have to say.

~

AH, THE WIND

Ah, the wind
in the old pines,
the old monk says.
Always the same song.

~

THE OLD MONK

The old monk
slips the silence

and sleeps.

~

THE ECSTASY

The ecstasy
of stillness

cannot be
spoken, the old

monk says, unless by
the other you

you become.

~

CONFUSION

Confusion,
the old monk says,
is the way

forward. What
you know won't
get you there.

~

BIRDS

Throw enough
mud
at the sky,
the old monk says--
see what flies.

~

NOT ALL POETS

Not all poets
who say they love

the rain love
the rain. Some

love the idea
of rain without

the getting wet,
the old monk says.

~

TO BE ONE THING

To be one thing
among things is

what the old monk
wants. To be

without desire
is also

what he wants.

~



THE COLOR 


The color of cornstalks,
the sky full of western light.



Saturday, March 20, 2021

LIKE A DOG'S EAR 


Like a dog's ear
asking "What?"

the day waits,
the sun patient

at its rounds,
the wind letting

off, joy making
its morning noise.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (23) 


In some language
the word for mystery
also means kiss.



Friday, March 19, 2021

CLOUDS SCRAPE 


Clouds scrape
at the sun-

shine. Autumn
wind bites.

The world tilts
and the season

turns with it.
What we know

of darkness is
its promise

of the light.



SNOW 


Snow
like an owl
in the pine
all morning.



Thursday, March 18, 2021

THE TREES' VERSION 


The cry you hear
is not singing.

It is the sound
of steel meeting

the living wood.
It is the sound

we make before
the headlong fall.

It is the sound
of dying.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (22) 


In some language
the word for alphabet
also means enlightenment.



Wednesday, March 17, 2021

IS IT 


Is it
evening
forgiving

the sun,
or the trees
forgetting

what the wind
has done?



THE SNOW IS 


The snow is
like light.

The light is
like the wind

which plays
for keeps.



Tuesday, March 16, 2021

SLANT, LIKE 


Slant, like the light,
we tell it as
we can. No one

brings us offerings.
Yet we tell it.
They don't understand.

And we don't know
any other
way to say it.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (21) 


In some language
the word for kindness
also means moss.



Monday, March 15, 2021

SO THE GREY 


So the grey
comes in and
covers us

as if
morning is
evening and

the end is
beginning.



THE STARS' 


The stars'
contortions

offering us
another night

tonight.



Sunday, March 14, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (6) 

 YOU MAY WONDER

You may wonder
who I am,

the old monk says.
Go ahead.

I don't know
what to tell you.

~

SOMETIMES SOLITUDE

Sometimes solitude
is the companion
you seek, the old monk

says. Sometimes it's friends
to drink your wine with.

~

THE STARS KEEP SPEAKING

The stars keep speaking
of forever,

the old monk says,
even as my heart

begins to fail.

~

YOU KEEP LOOKING

You keep looking
out beyond,
the old monk says,

when what you need
is at your feet.

~

DISTANCE IS

Distance is
a kind of sorrow,
the old monk says,

when all your friends
are left behind.

~

IF ONLY

If only
the old monk
had friends,

the old monk
said, he wouldn't
be lonely.

Yet the cost
in stillness
worries him.

~

IN THE GOOD POEM

In the good poem,
the old monk says,

what you say
in the last line

is already
in the first line

and in every
line between.

~

THE OLD MONK SAYS

The old monk says
it looks like
the light is off

and I am quiet,
yet I might
still be working.

~

YOU BUY

You buy what I'm selling?
the old monk asked us.

It's not the kind of deal
you make with the devil.

~

THE OLD MONK
TOLD HIS MASTER

I said
I'd write down
what you said.

I didn't say
I meant it.

~



IN SOME LANGUAGE (20) 


In some language
the word for promise
also means you owe me.



Saturday, March 13, 2021

POEM-CATCHER 


Take
your poem-

catcher,
poet,

and catch
me some.



LAST STAR 


Last star
of the edge of
the universe,

the coast of
the ocean.



Friday, March 12, 2021

WALK THE SLOW 


Walk the slow
loveliness.

The world will
come with you.

You see, touch,
listen. You wave

to a neighbor.
Even the wind

kisses this
stillness.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (19) 


In some language
the word for tree
also means friend.



Thursday, March 11, 2021

THE BIRDS 


The birds,
even sparrows,

spend the morning
preaching.

The moon holds
the western sky,

the sun the east.
This is not news,

yet all things
are lifted.



THE EMPTINESS 


The emptiness where
the lightning was.



Wednesday, March 10, 2021

THE LAST/FLOWERS 


The last
flowers

where frost
has touched

them, the
paleness

of their
autumn

patience,
sweetness

in their
dying.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (18) 


In some language
the word for pine tree
also means loneliness.



Tuesday, March 09, 2021

NOTHING 


Nothing
that does not
shine

this morning.
Even
the loss

of leaves
is lovely.



HOW PALE 


How pale blue, the sky,
an unfinished promise.



Monday, March 08, 2021

LEAF BLOWER 


Such sound
that tears
the silence.

Let loose,
O Lord,
your wrath.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (17) 

 
In some language
the word for bird
also means bullet.



Sunday, March 07, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (5) 

 DON'T MAKE IT

Don't make it
a job,
the old monk said.

Be like
the grasses.
Be.

~

HOW DID THE TREES

How did the trees
ever climb up
this mountain,
the old monk
wondered, weary
and resting.

~

DON'T STOP

Don't stop,
the old monk said,

before the stopping
starts.

I've said this
before, yes?

Let me add:
don't start

before the stopping
stops.

~

TO FEEL GOOD

To feel good is okay,
the old monk said.
To feel fine is better.

There's a reason
I live in the mountains.

~

DON'T PUSH IT

Don't push it.
Don't push,
the old monk said.

Let it
come by itself.

~

WHO BLESSES

Who blesses
who blesses
us, the old
monk wondered.

~

COUNT THEM ON YOUR FINGERS

Count them on your fingers,
the old monk told the poets.
If you need your toes,
your line's too long.

~

SHE WOULD SAY

She would say
this is nonsense,
the old monk said.

That's how you know
she is right.

~

DOES THIS OCCUR

Does this occur once
or should I write it down,
the old monk asked
the master.

~

THE OLD MONK SAID

The old monk said,
finally, I am
that guy who scares me.

~



EVENING 


Evening
and darkness

entering
the yard.

Far off,
the sound

of someone
singing

the stars home.



Saturday, March 06, 2021

NOT THAT 


Not that
he knows
anything,

that
he pays
attention.

Seeing
is his
wisdom,

sun
in his
eyes.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (16) 


In some language
the word for poetry
also means unsayable.



Friday, March 05, 2021

SUN LIKE/AUTUMN 


Sun like
autumn

leaves on
wet ground.

Someone
walks here

who loves
it now,

at this
last

moment,
someone

who will
endure

another
winter

for one
more day

like this.



CEMETERY 


Eventually
not even the stones
remember us.



Thursday, March 04, 2021

OUT 


Out
the same

window
each day

I see
the sun

paint with
light

the same
lovely

trees.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (15) 


In some language
the words for emptying the trash
also mean kissing God.



Wednesday, March 03, 2021

WHAT CAME 


What came
before

the same
as what

comes
after.

Loss is
not loss

when it
returns.



HAWK IS NOT 


Hawk is not
last year's leaves

in the winter
branches, though

he could be,
he always could.



Tuesday, March 02, 2021

POET 


You set
yourself

for this,
your work,

every day,
this, and

nothing
else.



IN SOME LANGUAGE (14) 


In some language
the word for death
also means long walk.



Monday, March 01, 2021

DISIN- 


Disin-
tegra-

tion, the
mind fails.

You watch
as it

happens.



OH, YES 


Oh, yes --
joy brings
another morning.

Let us lift
our eyes,

let us see
what sings here.



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