Tuesday, June 29, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (25) 

 
Fences
in the Sandhills

don't know
what to do --

to hold in,
hold out,

hold on?



Monday, June 28, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (24) 


Open ground
is the wind's

friend -- dust in
the Sandhills.



Sunday, June 27, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (21) 


IF IT FEELS SO

If it feels so
much like work,
the old monk

asked the poet,
why do you
keep doing it?

~

NOT EVERYTHING

Not everything
you let go of

lets go of you,
the old monk said.

~

YOU CAN'T SEE

You can't see colors
you don't have names for,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES SHADOW

Sometimes shadow
moves faster than light,
the old monk says.
He's full of such wisdom.

~

HOW MUCH

How much can I tell you
about the old monk
before I'm telling you
about you and me?

~

YOU HOLD

You hold your hand
in front of your face,
I still know who you are,
the old monk said,

which is what some
fellow told me to tell you,
to see what you believe.

~

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
in the

cool of
evening

even the
old monk

lets down.

~

IF THAT'S ALL

If that's all
you got to sell,
the old monk said,

take it to
another stall.

~

HOW MANY

How many of those
do you suppose
they have, they asked
the old monk.

I don't know, he said,
and I wouldn't
want to count.

~

IF YOU STAY

If you stay
this side of
the dust storm,

the old monk said,
it's always
windy.

~


NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (23) 

 
Where even the swallows
keep their heads down --
the Sandhills.



Saturday, June 26, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (22) 


Cottonwoods write
the history of the dead
across these Sandhills.



Friday, June 25, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (21) 


Mischief is
the wind hiding
in the Sandhills.



Thursday, June 24, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (20) 


When the wind races
nobody wins
in the Sandhills.



Wednesday, June 23, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (19) 


A white horse with
all the sun it wants --
these Sandhills.



Tuesday, June 22, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (18) 


You could make
a straight line

all the way to
Chadron, but why

would you want to?
The Sandhills

don't care.



Monday, June 21, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (17) 

 
If you shout
in the Sandhills,
does the wind care?


Sunday, June 20, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (20) 



SOMEONE SAYS

Someone says
Stop,
put down your pencils.

The old monk
keeps writing.

~

WELL, THAT’S HOW

Well, that’s how
you do it,
the old monk said,

you just don’t
stop.

~

I ALREADY TOLD YOU

I already told you,
the old monk said,

I have to do this.
They’ve kidnapped my mother.

~

IF YOU DO YOUR CHORES

If you do your chores
when it’s time for doing,
the old monk says,

they’ll be done
when it's time for fun.

~

LESS

Less
is more,
the old monk says,

when that’s
the way
it’s going.

~

ALL NIGHT

All night
the trees holding

the dark earth,
the old monk says.

It’s a story
the stars

already know.

~

IF HE SMILES

If he smiles,
his face will break,
the old monk said.

You have
a wrathful God.

~

EVEN IF

Even if there is a God
I couldn’t say
I’d believe him,
the old monk said.

I’ve been lied to
too many times.

~

IT'S NOT AS IF

It's not as if
all the answers
have questions,
the old monk says.

~

IF THIS ISN'T

If this isn't
what you have

to do,
the old monk said,

don't do it.
The mountain

doesn't need you.
Does that answer

your question?

~



NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (16) 


In the Sandhills
the wind plays

the only game
there is.

 

Saturday, June 19, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (15) 

 
When the poet
in the Sandhills

doesn't know
what to say,

the wind tells him.



Friday, June 18, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (14) 


Only the grasses know
what the wind is thinking
in the Sandhills.



Thursday, June 17, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (13) 

 
Where emptiness
goes for silence --
the Sandhills.



Wednesday, June 16, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (12) 


Wisdom doesn't
fight the wind
in the Sandhills.



Tuesday, June 15, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (11) 


In the Sandhills
the flowers
hold onto hope.



Monday, June 14, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (10) 


These are not your
Sandhills to write

about, the wind
tells the poet.

The poet doesn't
listen to the wind,

but to the stars.



Sunday, June 13, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (19) 


IT'S NOT WHAT'S

It's not what's
in the basket
that's important,
the old monk says.
What's important
is that you
bring it.

~

SEE HOW I DO THAT

See how I do that,
the old monk said,
directing the sunset.
It's all in the wrist.

~

IT DOESN'T MATTER

It doesn't matter
how you die,
the old monk says.
When you're dead,
you're dead.

~

YOU THINK ABOUT

You think about funerals,
of course you see darkness,
and the darkness sees you,
the old monk said.

~

PUT IT THERE

Put it there, the old monk said,
if that's where you want to put it.
I understand he bites.

~

YOU WANT MORE?

You want more? More?
the old monk said.
Then you carry it
up the mountain.

~

THERE IS SOMEWHERE

There is somewhere
an angel, whether you think
you need one or not,
the old monk says.

~

ALL THE THINGS

All the things you want to say
you don't say outloud,

the old monk says, is what
marks you as a wise man.

~

THAT'S THE WAY

That's the way it is
in the monastery,
the old monk says,

biscuits and gravy
every day
for breakfast.

~

IF I COULD

If I could I would
sell you a dozen more
at half the price,

the old monk said,
but I have to
make a living.

~


NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (9) 


Every day is another
year for cottonwoods
in the Sandhills.



Saturday, June 12, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (8) 


It comes hard
or it doesn't

come at all
in the Sandhills.



Friday, June 11, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (7) 


The grasses
know their job
in the Sandhills.
So does the wind.



Thursday, June 10, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (6) 


God made time for the Sandhills.
The cowboy in the oncoming pick-up
knows it.



Wednesday, June 09, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (5) 


The sun behind you,
and antelopes --
morning in the Sandhills.



Tuesday, June 08, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (4) 


The wind makes
and remakes them --
the Sandhills.



Monday, June 07, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (3) 


All I have seen here
I am seeing new --
June in the Sandhills.



Sunday, June 06, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (18) 


ROUND AND ROUND

Round and round
the mulberry tree,
the old monk says,
what an awful
way to die.

~

IF THE SUN

If the sun
doesn't come up,
you don't want to
get up either,
the old monk said.

~

HOW LONG

How long can you
stay still before
they think you're dead,
the old monk asked.
Stay still that long.

~

WHAT YOU WANT

What you want is to
silence the darkness,
the old monk says.
You don't want to
silence the light.

~

IF SOMEONE WANTS IT

If someone wants it,
someone will make it,
the old monk said.
That's how you end up
with crap like this.

~

SOMETIMES YOU LEARN

Sometimes you learn
the most just by
sitting still,
the old monk said.

~

YOUR BODY

Your body,
it's just an old
piece of meat.
It's the way
the world eats you,
the old monk said.

~

IT'S AS IF

It's as if
life's an empty

box and when
you've filled it,

that's it,
the old monk said.

I wish I could be
more reassuring.

~

WIND AND THE RAIN

Wind and the rain
are friends,
the old monk said.
Be friends with them.

~


NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (2) 


The windmill takes
the easy job
in the Sandhills.



Saturday, June 05, 2021

NEBRASKA SANDHILLS (1) 


Lovely tough women,
the Sandhills.



Friday, June 04, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (59) 


In some language
the word for blood
also means marriage.



Tuesday, June 01, 2021

WHERE THE ROCK 


Where the rock says no,
the water says some day.



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