Sunday, September 18, 2022
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (85)
IF THE TRICKS
If the tricks
don't fool them,
you'd better be
funny,
the old monk said.
~
FUNNY
Funny
is a business
and it's a
funny business,
the comedian
told the old monk.
~
THEY WANT US
They want us
to be funny
and then they'll
pay us,
the old monk
told the band.
~
SOMETIMES YOU'RE
Sometimes you're
74
before
you realize
you've always been
an old man,
the old monk said.
Sometimes you're
85.
~
I GET AROUND
I get around well enough
for a man with limited prospects,
the old monk admitted.
~
IN A POEM
In a poem
something has to
rhyme. It doesn't
always have to
be the words,
the old monk said.
~
TAKE OFF EVERYTHING
Take off everything --
pretty soon you'll see
what you are,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT DOES THE WORLD
What does the world
slap you with?
That's what you're
supposed to pursue,
the old monk said.
~
I HAVE WORKED SO HARD
I have worked so hard
to say so little --
I wonder why,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES SADNESS
Sometimes sadness
is like straw
out the back
of the thresher,
even as it
shines in the sun,
the old monk said.
~
