Monday, January 31, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (120) 


IT'S DIFFERENT

It's different than
what I remember,
he told the old monk.

It always is,
the old monk said.

~

HOW FAR

How far
up the mountain

do you go
before you are

up the mountain,
the student asked

the old monk.

~

THERE IS PLENTY

There is plenty of room
in an empty hut,
the old monk said.
Plenty of room.

~



Sunday, January 30, 2022

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (52) 


STARS AT THE EDGE

Stars at the edge
of the universe --
bad luck of the draw,
the old monk said.

~

I SAY

I say
what I say,
the old monk
repeated.

~

HE KNOWS

He knows
how it ends
when he
begins,
God does,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU COULD

If you could
write all night,
would you,
the old monk asked
the poet.

~

THE LAST THING

The last thing you want is
often the first thing you get,
the old monk said.

~

DON'T BELIEVE

Don't believe in miracles
and you won't be disappointed,
the old monk said.

~

THE UNIVERSE IS

The universe is
somewhat like
Antarctica,
the old monk said.
You know it's there,
but you don't know
much about it.

~

IF YOU CAN GET IT

If you can get it
off the ground
you better hope
it has good
suspension,
the old monk said.

~

I'LL SET IT DOWN

I'll set it down and
wait til you're ready
is what you say
to a mule,
the old monk said.

~

IT'S LIKE SEEING

It's like seeing a dead man,
reading bad work by a mentor,
the old monk told the poet.

~




THREE OLD MONK POEMS (119) 


SOMETIMES / THE HAIR

Sometimes
the hair to be split
is too fine

and you end up with
a mess like this,
the old monk said.

~

WAIT

Wait.
Someone will ask

what can you do.
Just show them,

the old monk said.

~

THAT'S THE TRICK

That's the trick,
waiting,
the old monk said.
It takes patience.

~



Saturday, January 29, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (118) 


THERE'S ONLY ONE SONG

There's only one song
and there's only

one way to sing it,
the old monk said.

He wasn't talking
just about music.

~

I DO EVERYTHING

I do everything
I need to

by doing what
I want to,

the old monk said.

~

IF YOU CAN'T

If you can't say it
the other way around,

it must be true,
the old monk said.

~



Friday, January 28, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (117) 


THE KIND OF DEAL

The kind of deal
you want to make

is not the kind
the devil wants,

the old monk said.
Don't go down

to the crossroads.

~

I CAN'T IMAGINE

I can't imagine
imagination,

the old monk said.
I'm more straight-

forward than that.

~

WHAT DOES LIGHT

What does light
know of the darkness,
the old monk asked.
It has never
found it.

~



Thursday, January 27, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (116) 


IF THAT'S THE WAY

If that's the way it is,
how was it was,
the old monk asked.

~

ON A SCALE

On a scale of
Monday to Sunday,
the old monk asked,
how was today?

~

WHAT

What
the mirror
sees

isn't what
the mirror
shows,

the old monk says.

~



Wednesday, January 26, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (115) 


WITH ALL THERE IS

With all there is
why are there so few
things I talk about,
the old monk wondered.

~

IF IT WERE

If it were simple,
I'd be simpler,
the old monk said.

~

WHEN THEY LAND IT

When they land it,
you stop praying.
Why is that,
the old monk asked.

~



Tuesday, January 25, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (114) 


WE COULD MAKE IT

We could make it
look old like that,
they told the old monk,

but we'd have to
charge you extra.

~

MUCH MORE THAN

Much more than five lines
you start to bore me,
the old monk told the poet.

~

IF THEY WANT

If they want everything
they won't be happy
with anything,
the old monk says.

~



Monday, January 24, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (113) 


ALL OR NONE

All or none,
want some
of neither,
the old monk
advised

~

I WORRY

I worry that
when the stars

go silent
it means it's

time to die,
the old monk said.

~

IT DID IT

It did it.
It could do it
again,

the old monk said.
There's no warning
the second time.

~



Sunday, January 23, 2022

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (51) 


WHEN YOU TOUCH

When you touch
what God touches
you come home
charged,
the old monk said.

~

A GARAGE SALE

A garage sale
is no place to be
talking Jesus,
the old monk
admonished them.

~

SOMETIMES LIGHT

Sometimes light
is light and
sometimes light
just is,
the old monk said.

~

IF THE UNIVERSE

If the universe
doesn't ever
come back together,
does that disprove
gravity,
the old monk wondered.

~

OKAY, SO I DON'T

Okay, so I don't
believe the universe

can throw itself out
farther than it can

pull itself back,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU TAKE IT

If you take it
up the mountain,
take it down,
if you ever
go back down,
the old monk said.

~

THE BUSINESS

The business
of business
is money.

The business
of poetry
is not,

the old monk said.

~

THE ANIMAL

The animal you'll be
will come to you,
the old monk told
the shaman.

~

I CAN SAY

I can say things
you don't understand
and I can say things
I don't understand.
Can I say things
God will understand,
the old monk asked them.

~

THE ANGELS DON'T KNOW

The angels don't know the answers,
they only know the questions,
the old monk said.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (112) 


I KNOW, I KNOW

I know, I know,
the old monk said,
if you invite them in
you can't say stop
when they come.

~

IF IT'S THE ONLY

If it's the only
deal you can make
you're dealing
with the devil,
the old monk said.

~

POURING THE WINE

Pouring the wine
the old monk said,

I'd give you more
but I see how

much you spill.

~



Saturday, January 22, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (112) 


YOU MAKE THE BEST

You make the best
kind of deal while

they're still taking
down the tent,

the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO

Sometimes you have to
play dead
from the beginning

and they call that
acting,
the old monk said.

~

IT'S NOT THAT

It's not that
it's wisdom,

it's that it sounds
like wisdom,

the old monk said.

~



Friday, January 21, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (111) 


SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T

Sometimes you can't
get far enough

away to see it,
the old monk said.

~

IT IS MORE

It is more
than I want to see,

the eye of God,
looking,

the old monk said.

~

EVERYTHING HE SAYS

Everything he says
means what he says
and also means more,
they said about
the old monk.

~



Thursday, January 20, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (110) 


I DON'T RESENT

I don't resent you,
the old monk told his students.
What else would I be doing?

~

WHAT

What
speaks to me

is silence,
the old monk said.

~

WE COULD PLAY

We could play this
kind of thing all night,

the old monk said
about the band.

We call it
hillbilly jazz.

~



Tuesday, January 18, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (109) 


THERE ARE AS MANY

There are as many shades
of gray as you need, to find

the one to fit your sadness,
the old monk said.

~

IT'S ALL THE SAME

It's all the same
even when it's different,
the old monk heard
his students complain.

~

SOMEWHERE

Somewhere
on the mountain is
somewhere,
the old monk promised.

~



Monday, January 17, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (108) 


IF YOU KEEP

If you keep driving like that
it's going to come around backwards,
the old monk warned the driver.

~

SIDEWAYS IS

Sideways is the way
coyote walks,
the old monk says.
Walk that way.

~

THAT NOISE

That noise you hear
waiting to fall

asleep? That's
the electricity

inside all of us,
the old monk said.

It's inside you.

~



Sunday, January 16, 2022

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (50) 

 
SOMEWHERE SOMEONE

Somewhere someone is
shaking dice and moving us
around the game board,
the old monk said.
We're just plastic tokens.

He didn't always believe this.

~

NO ONE WATCHES

No one watches
the old monk
the way he watches
himself.

~

SOMETIMES YOU DRIVE

Sometimes you drive in the ditch
because you have to

and live to tell the story,
the old monk said. He wasn't

just teaching driving school.

~

NOT EVERYTHING

Not everything that flies
wants to, the wind says.
The old monk agrees.

~

THAT'S A TRICK

That's a trick you can do
if you practice -- put it
behind your back and have it
come out your front,
the old monk said.

~

THE ISLAND OF THE WIDE SUNSET

The Island of the Wide Sunset –
that's where I want to live,
the old monk said, but
I can't afford a house.

~

HOW MANY TIMES

How many times
must I say it

before you get it,
the old monk asked

the fencepost. Yes,
he was making

fun of himself.

~

ARE YOU SURE

Are you sure
you will find it --

the other side
of sky,

the old monk asked
the master.

~

WHEN THEY'RE LOOKING

When they're looking through
your suitcase, sometimes it's
only your dirty underwear
they will find,
the old monk said.

~

IF EVERYTHING

If everything
would be
what everything
is, it would
be easier
to explain,
the old monk
assured them.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (107) 


YOU KEEP BETTING

You keep betting
even at the end,

the old monk said,
and you keep thinking

you're still going to win.

~

WHATEVER IT IS

Whatever it is
you think you want,

what you need is to learn
to say thank you,

the old monk said.

~

THE STARS ARE

The stars are
already conspiring

to make the next
universe,

the old monk said.

~



Saturday, January 15, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (106) 


I COULD SELL

I could sell it to you
for a dollar,

the old monk told
the miser, and

you'd still come back
asking don't it

come with attachments?

~

I WATCH IT

I watch it
from left to right

as it drifts across
the evening,

my sadness,
the old monk said.

~

IF FIVE

If five was noon,
the old monk said,

four would be
an hour before

and six one later,
and nobody would

know, I think, what
time is dinner.

~



Friday, January 14, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (105) 


IF WHAT YOU WANT

If what you want
is more of it,

put your order
in sooner,

they told the old monk.
That's how it

usually works.

~

THE OLD MONK

The old monk
and the poet
were talking
about poets

and the old
monk said,
soon there'll
be so many

we won't have
enough readers.
And the poet

said that's not
a problem
for the poets.

~

HOW LONG DO YOU

How long do you
let it rot

before you eat it,
the old monk asked

the vulture.
The vulture

said I wait til I'm
good and hungry.

~



Thursday, January 13, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (104) 


EVEN A SINGLE

Even a single star
is enough some nights,
the old monk said.

~

DON'T PUT MUSIC

Don't put music
in the middle of it,
the old monk said.

You'll never get it
straightened out.

~

IF THEY LAND IT

If they land it,
the old monk says,

don't complain if
it's a little bumpy.

~



Wednesday, January 12, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (103) 


YOU DON'T

You don't
want to

but you
do it --

duty,
the old

monk says.

~

IF YOU SAY

If you say that's
just a dollar,

someone will think
it's a deal

and will take it,
the old monk says.

~

WHEN YOU SAY

When you say
you've crossed that bridge,

does that mean
you can't go back,

the old monk asked.

~



Tuesday, January 11, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (102) 


A CREEK

A creek
does not creak,

it babbles,
the old monk said

with a smile.

~

YOU GO BACK

You go back
however far

you want to,
the old monk says,

you'll see it's
no different

except maybe
the stars have moved.

~

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
what takes us

is wind and sun
and at night

the God-damn stars,
the old monk said.

~



Monday, January 10, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (101) 


YOU DO THAT

You do that
and you keep

doing that
and you don't

get annoyed,
there's something

the matter,
the old monk said.

~

YES, I CAN

Yes, I can
be in the desert

and be on the mountain
and be in America --

does that surprise you,
the old monk asked.

~

WHEN YOUR WAGON

When your wagon
makes that creaking sound
you're fully loaded,
the old monk told
the new driver.

~



Sunday, January 09, 2022

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (49) 


ONCE YOU'VE ACHIEVED

Once you've achieved
feather status
you do not fall
off the mountain,
the old monk said.

~

YOU WHO DO NOT

You who do not
master the spirits

will be possessed
by them, an outcome

not to be desired,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU LOVE IT

If you love it, love it,
but expect to get caught,
the old monk says.

~

HE DON'T KNOW

We don't know
who he is --
he comes around
and preaches,
they said about
the old monk.

~

IF THE OLD MONK

If the old monk
had a girlfriend
you'd never know it.

~

WHY MAKE ALL THESE

Why make all these
deals with God when
you don't know that
he'll keep them,
the old monk asked.
Don't you have
another choice?

~

WHEN THE CRICKETS

When the crickets come out,
let the drinking begin,
the old monk said.

~

I CAN'T BELIEVE

I can't believe
what I won't tell you,
the old monk said.

~

LEAVE THE DEVIL'S WORK

Leave the devil's work
to the devil,
unless you can't,
the old monk said.

~

WHEN THE UNIVERSE

When the universe
stops there'll be
a mighty silence,
the old monk said.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (100) 


I DO THIS DEAL

I do this deal
and I do it again,

flour, and sugar, and rice,
the old monk says.

It seems so simple,
and still I forget --

flour, and sugar, and rice.

~

IF YOU THINK

If you think
life is for

the getting there
and not the going

you are in for
disappointment,

the old monk says.

~

HE'S GOING TO BE

He's going to be going
but we don't know when,
the master said
about the old monk.

~



Saturday, January 08, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (99) 


JUST ABOUT

Just about enough
is enough,
the old monk said.

You'll know that
when you know.

~

THIS IS THE PERFECT PLACE

This is the perfect place
to hide from God,
the old monk said.

On this mountain
you make your heaven.

~

IF WE ONLY KNEW

If we only knew
what the darkness knows

we wouldn't spend
any time sinning,

the old monk says.

~



Friday, January 07, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (98) 


ALMOST WISDOM

Almost wisdom,
the master said before

he dismissed it,
the old monk's poem.

~

PAST OR PRESENT

Past or present
is not tomorrow

until tomorrow,
the old monk said.

~

I DON'T KNOW

I don't know how
he does that --

it's like he lays
down and dies

and leaves these
grease-stained poems,

the student said
about the old monk.

~



Thursday, January 06, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (97) 


SOMETIMES IT FEELS

Sometimes it feels
like I'm painting
the Sistene Chapel,

writing these poems
under the stars,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU GIVE

If you give away
what you have,

how do you eat,
they asked

the old monk.
He said, that's

not the question.

~

EVERYONE WANTS

Everyone wants
what

everyone wants,
the old monk says.

The trick is
to find it.

~



Wednesday, January 05, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (96) 


IT'S HARDER TO

It's harder to give
up when your coming

down the mountain,
the old monk says.

~

HOW LONG CAN IT

How long can it
go on? It goes on
as long as it can,
the old monk said.
It always does.

~

SOMETIMES IT'S

Sometimes it's
as if you can hit

the ground hard
and you're dying,

the old monk said.
You still get up.

~



Monday, January 03, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (95) 


ONE MORE

One more, or two,
or six, what
does it matter,
the old monk asked.
Who's keeping score?

~

AND THAT WAS

And that was
the revelation --

the old monk
only had his

own worn sack
to carry up

the mountain.

~

YOU HAVE TO

You have to
carry down

what you
carry up,

the old monk
said. You

can't leave it
on the mountain.

~



Sunday, January 02, 2022

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (48) 


IT MIGHT SOUND

It might sound slower
but a waltz is
actually faster,
the old monk
told the band.

~

HOW YOU ASK

How you ask
the question is half
the answer,
the old monk said.

~

HALF OF

Half of doing it
is wanting to,
the old monk said.

~

HOPE IS NOT

Hope is not
a strategy,
they say in
football. They
say it in
life, too,
the old monk said.

~

WHEN YOU KNOW

When you know
why you want it
you don't really
need it,
the old monk said.

~

IMAGINE

Imagine a universe,
the old monk said.
That's what God
is doing.

~

THERE IS

There is
no sound
in space

until
it hits
something,

the old monk said.

~

PLAY IT SWEET

Play it sweet
and try not to gain
are the last things to think
before we start,
the old monk told the band.

~

NO, YOU CAN'T

No, you can't add
a whaling expedition

just because you
need a transition,

the old monk told
the author.

~

IT'S THE OLD THINGS

It's the old things
you remember

when you can
remember things,

the old monk said.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (94) 


YOU BREAK IT

You break it,
it's broken,

that's always
the order,

the old monk
told them.

~

IT WAS ALWAYS

It was always
where you find it,
the old monk says.

~

THEY WAIT

They wait
for an answer

but don't know
the question,

the old monk
complained.

~



Saturday, January 01, 2022

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (93) 


IF I COULD

If I could see
what is obvious,

I wouldn't have
these problems,

the old monk says.

~

YOU FIND

You find the edge
of the wind right

where it ripples,
the old monk says.

You can almost
taste the sand.

~

ELEVEN

Eleven is about
and thirteen
is a baker's.
That's close enough,
the old monk said.

~



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