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.
~
