Sunday, September 04, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (83)
IF YOU DON'T KNOW
If you don't know
who the angel is,
they are all angels,
the old monk said.
~
HOW MUCH WISDOM
How much wisdom
is enough,
the old monk asked.
The master said,
There is no
answer to that.
~
EMPTINESS IS A SONG
Emptiness is a song
you haven't learned to sing,
the old monk told his student.
~
SO MUCH
So much
depends on
so much,
the old monk said.
~
THE MOON COMES UP
The moon comes up,
I think of night-plowing
and my father,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU'RE GOING TO
If you're going to fly,
don't fly feet first,
the old monk said.
~
THINGS FALL OFF
Things fall off --
we don't charge
extra for that,
the old monk told
the shoppers.
~
GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN
Going up the mountain
the first turn is a left turn,
the old monk told his students.
~
TIME IS
Time is gravity
divided by the speed of light --
did I really say that,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU DON'T KNOW
You don't know
what you know
until you've put
your mark on it,
the old monk said.
~
