Monday, August 30, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (69) 


In some language
crickets and evening
are the same word.



Sunday, August 29, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (30) 


THERE'S ALWAYS

There's always purple
at the edge of blue,
the old monk said,
sadness like shadow
in the silence.

~

IF THAT'S WHAT

If that's what you're going to do,
the old monk said,
you should probably get undressed.

~

IF YOU WANT

If you want
to sleep, don't talk

to the moon,
the old monk said.

~

LIKE KNOWS

Like knows like,
the old monk said.
Maybe you can use that
to make a deal.

~

WHEN THE SKY

When the sky is blue
on the mountain,
the old monk said,

it may not be blue
in the valley.

~

IF YOU KNOW

If you know yourself,
the old monk says,

you know mountain
is mountain.

~

IF SOMEONE WANTS

If someone wants to
do that kind of thing

at this time of night,
the old monk said, you

might as well get up
and put your clothes on.

~

WHEN YOU GO

When you go --
yes, I'm talking about death --
just walk away,
the old monk said.

~

WHEN THEY COME

When they come for you,
you will see angels,
the old monk said.
Trust them.

~

THE END

The end is
always nearer

than the end,
the old monk said.

~


Friday, August 27, 2021

SUDDEN- 


Sudden-
ly winter
again,

after spring,
flowers getting

their noses
froze.



Thursday, August 26, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (67) 


In some language
the word for mountain
also means library.



Tuesday, August 24, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (66) 


In some language
the word for mountain
means maker of rivers.



Monday, August 23, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (65) 


In some language
the word for mirror
also means soul.



Sunday, August 22, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (29) 


ENOUGH MOON

Enough moon
you won't need
a flashlight,
the old monk
promised.

~

WHAT THE STARS

What the stars
will tell you,
you won't know
until you listen.
the old monk said.

~

HOW OFTEN

How often
do you get to do that,
the old monk asked,
rhyme so many words
in a single line?

~

SOMETIMES NOT

Sometimes not
what you say,
but saying it,
the old monk says.

~

EVEN THE LEFT-

Even the left-
handed poet
gets to get one,
the old monk said.
That's why I'm here.

~

DON'T EXPLAIN IT

Don't explain it,
the old monk said.
They've had their
lessons. They have
directions.

~

SOMETIMES WHAT

Sometimes what
you let go of

doesn't let go
but you don't

know that until
you do,

the old monk said.

~

ONE, TWO, OR THREE

One, two, or three things,
you can't think of
more than that,
the old monk said --
sex, food, money.

~

IT'S NOT

It's not the promise
you make,
the old monk said,
it's making
the promise.

~

WHERE DO YOU

Where do you find them,
they asked. The old monk
said, "Oh, here and there,
laying about. Try one."

~


Tuesday, August 17, 2021

A WHOLE EVENING 


A whole evening,
just stars and crickets.



Sunday, August 15, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (28) 


YOU DON'T ALWAYS

You don't always see
water out of rock,
the old monk said,
but you see it
on the mountain.

~

IF YOU PRACTICED

If you practiced more,
you wouldn't get so tired
when you fly,
the old monk told them.

~

SOMETIMES NOT

Sometimes not
even emptiness
fills the silence,
the old monk said.

~

A PROMISE

A promise
is like a kiss

they get to keep,
the old monk said.

~

THIS IS WHAT

This is what
I trained for,

the old monk said,
to be here,

saying these things.

~

I DON'T WANT TO

I don't want to
say so much that

it gets crowded
on the mountain,

the old monk said.

~

YOU WON'T HAVE TO

You won't have to
tell us the color

of the light you're
walking into,

the old monk said.

~

DEATH IS LIKE THAT

Death is like that,
a NASA project leaving the solar system,
entering interstellar space,
the old monk said.

~

I COULD GIVE YOU

I could give you
all of them,
the old monk said,
but you still wouldn't
have enough. You
won't ever think
you have enough.

~

YOU DON'T KNOW

You don't know
if they're coming,

then they do,
the old monk said.

That's what makes
the party so fun.

~


IN SOME LANGUAGE (64) 


In some language
the word for rainbow
also means bridge.



Friday, August 13, 2021

GOOD-BYE 


Good-bye
is not something
the wind says.



Sunday, August 08, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (27) 



YOU KNOW

You know south of here
is north of somewhere,
the old monk said.

~

SOME NIGHTS

Some nights, stars.
Some nights, not
so many,
the old monk said.

~

IN THE DISTANCE

In the distance,
the distance,
the old monk said.
You can almost
see it.

~

HOLD ON

Hold on
or let go,
the old monk said.
Either way,
we're falling.
We always
were.

~

SOMEONE WANTS

Someone wants
what you don't have
and there's nothing
you can do
about it,
the old monk said.

~

SOMEONE KEEPS

Someone keeps talking
even after
the old monk has
gone to sleep.

~

IF I THINK

If I think
I eat, I eat,
the old monk says.
If I think
I'm hungry,
I am.

~

WHAT IT DOES

What it does
or doesn't do
is what it does,
the old monk noted.
You can't fix that.

~

IF WHAT YOU WANT

If what you want
is love,
the old monk said,
don't be
making deals
to find it.

~

IT'S NOT SO MUCH

It's not so much the pain
as going backwards
up the mountain,
the old monk said
about his predicament.

~


Wednesday, August 04, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (63) 


In some language
another word for desire
is indigestion.



Tuesday, August 03, 2021

IN SOME LANGUAGE (62) 


In some language
the word for grandmother
also means large oak.



Monday, August 02, 2021

THE WAY IT SETTLES 


The way it settles
is the way

it means to be,
the evening.



Sunday, August 01, 2021

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (26) 


MOON IS TO

Moon is to
moonlight as

paper is to
poem,

the old monk said.

~

HOW FAR

How far can you go
before you lose
the mountain,
before the mountain
loses you,
the old monk wondered.

~

WHAT SOMEONE OFFERS

What someone offers you
is not what they're offering,
the old monk says.

~

WHAT IS THAT WAY

What is that way
seems that way,
the old monk says.
It can't be otherwise.

~

HURRY

Hurry
and you fall
farther behind,
the old monk says.

~

IF I COULD

If I could play
basketball,
do you think
I'd be a monk,
the old monk
asked them.

~

HALF A DOZEN

Half a dozen
is a long way
to saying six,
the old monk says.

~

IF YOU KEEP

If you keep
listening,

the old monk said,
you will figure

it out, the
silence.

~

THE QUESTION IS

The question is,
the old monk says,

how much do you
have to want

before you have
enough?

~



IN SOME LANGUAGE (61) 


In some language
the word for bucket
also means emptiness.



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