Sunday, July 18, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (24)
I CAN'T HELP IT
I can't help it:
evening goes to
darkness,
the old monk says.
The same goes
for darkness
going to morning.
~
IF YOU KEEP TURNING
If you keep turning
your back to the wind,
the old monk said,
people might think
you're a horse. Are you?
~
HOW MANY TIMES
How many times
will you carry it
up the mountain,
the old monk asked.
Lay your burden down.
~
IT'S NOT THE PRODUCT
It's not the product,
it's the process
I understand,
the old monk said.
~
I CAN'T TURN OFF
I can't turn off
the radio
and I can't
go to sleep,
the old monk
complained.
~
ONE PLACE
One place
or another,
it's always
somewhere,
the old
monk said.
~
THE OLD PINES
The old pines
in the moonlight,
the old monk says,
and the silence.
~
THIS
This.
Say it again.
This time,
let the moment
open,
the old monk said.
~
IF I COULD
If I could sell them to you
at a better price,
the old monk said,
do you think I would still be
living on the mountain?
~
WISDOM
Wisdom
is the emptinenss
of its silence,
the old monk said.
~
