Sunday, May 09, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (14) 


YOU GET

You get all
the silence
you invite,
the old monk said.

~

DOES A MONK

Does a monk
ever know
that he's a saint,
they asked.

Does the mule
know that he's
half a jackass,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES THE TIGER

The old monk says,
sometimes the tiger
means business

and sometimes
you can pull his tail.
Don't get it wrong.

~

WHAT'S OVER

What's over the horizon,
the old monk says,
is not over its horizon.

~

HOW FAR ARE

How far are those
stars whose light

will never reach us,
the old monk wondered.

Farther than
imagination.

~

WHEN I SAY

When I say I know,
the old monk said,

I'm not saying
anything.

~

YOU WANT TO DEAL

You want to deal
with the devil,
the old monk said.

Go down to the crossroads.
He'll look like me.

~

STOP WEARING OUT

Stop wearing out the stars
trying to write all night,
the old monk told himself.

Do you think he listened?

~

I UNDERSTAND

I understand
how many places

I can stand
to be standing here,

the old monk said.
Every place.

~

THERE'S NOT SO MUCH

There's not so much
you can want

that you can't
want more,

the old monk
berated them.

~



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