Sunday, May 23, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (16)
SOMEONE
Someone I held
hands with, she
talked to God,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't eavesdrop
or listen for trains,
how do you know
what's coming,
the old monk asks.
~
WHAT I LIKE
What I like
is what I would like,
the old monk said.
~
WHERE DO YOU
Where do you get
your crazy ideas,
they asked
the old monk.
He said,
I listen to the stars.
~
DON'T WORRY
Don't worry
about it,
the old monk said.
Another
for you and
two for me
and we're good.
~
IF THEY LOCKED UP
If they locked up
every old monk,
the old monk said,
the prisons would fly!
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
you sit atop
a 50-foot pole
and are thought
a saint,
the old monk says.
Sometimes
you are
a saint.
~
DOES THE WALL
Does the wall
honor the bricklayer,
or the one who
made the bricks,
the old monk asks.
~
TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
Trying to understand
the difference between
said and says,
the old monk
just doesn't get it.
He'll tell you that himself.
~
DON'T HAGGLE
Don't haggle,
the old monk said.
I know what it's worth
and you know what it's worth.
Pay a fair price and
get out of here.
~
