Tuesday, January 31, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (395) 


LOVE IS LIKE

Love is like light --
you can know where

or you can know when,
but you can't know both,

the old monk said.

~

THE JOKE'S

The joke's the thing,
like the poem --

you don't mean for it
to get personal,

the old monk said.

~

HOW MUCH

How much do you fail
before you've failed?

You fail entirely,
the old monk said.

~



Sunday, January 29, 2023

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (104) 


WHY THE HELL

Why the hell should
anybody care, if
you don't,
the old monk
told the poet.

~

YOU TELL

You tell the truth
and they can't hear you,
the old monk noticed.

~

IF THE SKIN

If the skin is coming
off your fingers
you're praying too hard,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES IT'S GOD

Sometimes it's God
and sometimes it's
the crickets that won't
shut up,
the old monk said.

~

YOU'RE NOT

You're not done
until you've been buried,
the old monk said.

~

GETTING i

Getting i to the right height
is half the writer's job,
the old monk told the poet.

~

SAY THE SAME

Say the same thing
often enough
you change it,
the old monk said.

~

IS IT GOD

Is it God attracting
the attractor attracting
the Great Attractor,
the old monk asked.

~

FIRST YOU TOUCH

First you touch the stars,
then you sleep,
the old monk said.

~

YOU CANNOT

You cannot care
because you have to,
the old monk said.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (394) 


IT'S FRICTION

It's friction
which helps us
go

and lets us
stop,
the old monk said.

Friction.
It's not a
bad thing.

~

THAT WHICH FLIES

That which flies,
let it fly.

The stones can't
hold the wind,

the old monk said.

~

THE EARTH

The earth
already knows

its end
among the stars,

the old monk said.
No surprise.

~



Saturday, January 28, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (393) 


THAT THING

That thing you do
with your mouth,

you can turn it
into art,

the old monk
told the poet.

~

HOW MUCH

How much can you do
before you show
what you can't do,

the old monk asked
the student.

~

THAT / WHICH

That
which
is

is
which
that,

the old monk asked.

~



Friday, January 27, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (392) 


HOW FAR

How far do you travel
before you get one?

Twelve miles per poem?
Fifteen? Fifty mpp,

the old monk asked the poet.

~

IF THE WORD

If the word is
drift,

you let it
drift.

If it's
not,

you make it
stay,

the old monk
told the poet.

~

LAY YOURSELF

Lay yourself down
in the deep grass

if you want a
really good sleep,

the old monk said.

~



Thursday, January 26, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (391) 


IT TAKES ALL

It takes all night
for the stars to

convince themselves
of morning,

the old monk said.

~

IT WILL NEVER

It will never
be everything

you want it
to be. That's

why you start
with simple things,

the old monk said.

~

HOW BIG

How big
does a cat

have to be
to not be

a house cat?
As big as

a barn?
the old monk asked.

~



Tuesday, January 24, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (390) 


IF YOU WANT

If you want to
know what's coming,

listen to the wind,
which cannot lie,

the old monk said.

~

THESE THINGS

These things
I speak of

mean nothing
to you

if you have
no river,

no mountain,
no wind,

no pines,
no moonlight,

the old monk said.

~

THAT CAT

That cat?
Don't pet it

if you need
your arm,

the old monk said.

~



Monday, January 23, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (389) 


THE GRASS

The grass bends
as if it loves

knowing the wind,
the old monk said.

~

THE SILENCE

The silence I practice
is practice for

the great silence,
the old monk says.

~

HOW MANY TIMES

How many times
do two words go

bump-bump
before it means

something,
the old monk asked.

~



Sunday, January 22, 2023

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (103) 


YOU WANT THEM

You want them to go sideways and they don't --
that's how we end up in situations like this,
the old monk admitted.

~

DOING WHAT

Doing what you've
done you don't have
to go all the way back
to the beginning,
the old monk told
his oldest novice.

~

IT IS TIME

It is time which
measures the size
of the universe,
the old monk told
the scientists.

~

IN THE DESERT

In the desert
you may have to drink
the camel's blood,
the old monk told
his students.
It's like drinking
the ocean.

~

YOU DON'T

You don't haul salt
across the Sahara
because you want to,
the old monk said.

~

NOT ALL

Not all that is known
is knowable
unless you've read
all the poetry,
the old monk said.

~

DON'T HIDE

Don't hide where the microphone is,
the old monk said.

~

NO ONE WANTS

No one wants the coat
with the button off,
the old monk said,
but everybody
wants to be warm.

~

MONEY IS

Money is no good
on the mountain,
that's why,
the old monk said.
That, and I'm
allergic to it.

~

DUTY IS

Duty is as much as you have to,
the old monk said.

~


THREE OLD MONK POEMS (388) 


WHO KNOWS

Who knows when
the old monk is done?

Just because
he isn't talking

doesn't mean
he's finished.

~

IF I HAD

If I had a better memory,
where did I put it,
the old monk wondered.

~

AT SUNRISE

At sunrise
I practice

walking toward
the light,

the old monk said.

~



Thursday, January 19, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (387) 


IF YOU LEAVE

If you leave
what is left

you keep
what is right,

the old monk
advised.

~

THE WISDOM

The wisdom
in wisdom

is knowing
what it means

to wait,
the old monk said.

~

THE THINGS

The things
waiting to be
fixed

don't wait
forever,
the old monk said.

~



Wednesday, January 18, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (386) 


THESE THINGS

These things
you don't know
you know

how do you
access them,
they asked

the old monk.
The old monk said,
except for silence

I don't know
and I don't
want to know.

~

IF IT GOES

If it goes good
you're done before

you've begun,
the old monk said.

~

WHAT I WANT

What I want to
say is caught like
wind in the grasses,

the old monk
told the poet.

~



Tuesday, January 17, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (385) 


EVERYTHING

Everything
from morning

to now is
all you have --

don't waste it,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU WANT

If you want to know
what the dead think,

ask the stars,
the old monk said.

~

THE EVIDENCE

The evidence says
there aren't enough stars

to fill the darkness,
but they keep trying,

the old monk said.

~



Sunday, January 15, 2023

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (102) 


NOTHING

Nothing
at the bottom

is left
at the top,

the old monk said.

~

YOU WILL NOT

You will not get rich
representing poets,
the old monk told
the novice literary agent.

~

YOU LIVE

You live on the mountain
long enough, your forget
you can touch the stars,
the old monk said.

~

YOU FALL

You fall into what you want,
the old monk said.

~

IF SHE HAS

If she has rosy cheeks
and she's smiling,
maybe she likes
scrubbing floors,
the old monk speculated.

~

WE SCRUB

We scrub on our
hands and knees so
we're already on our
hands and knees when
they come through,
the servants told
the old monk.

~

THIS UNIVERSE

This universe --
maybe it is just
God's fastball,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES THE WORDS

Sometimes the words
want to go right
through the paper,
the old monk
told the poet.

~

THIS UNIVERSE

This universe isn't
all God has to do,
the old monk told
the scientists.

~

DOES GOD

Does God know
what he cannot know,
the old monk wondered.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (384) 


YES

Yes, some star
threw out that which

became this stone,
the old monk said.

~

WALK CAREFULLY

Walk carefully
where the earth groans,
the old monk said.

~

WHEN YOU LEARN

When you learn
to ride time,

the old monk told
his students,

death means nothing.

~





Saturday, January 14, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (383) 


THERE AT THE FAR

There at the far
edge moving away,

the universe
touches sorrow,

the old monk said.

~

THE STARS HAVE

The stars have their
problems too --

burning out,
being eaten,

the black holes
at the center

of their galaxies.
It's not easy going

against the darkness,
the old monk said.

~

IN A CERTAIN

In a certain
kind of summer

at a certain
time of evening,

the crickets, oh
man, the crickets,

and then the stars,
the old monk said.

~



Wednesday, January 11, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (382) 


WHEN THE DARKNESS

When the darkness
comes at you

push the knife away,
the old monk said.

~

IT'S AS IF

It's as if
the crickets

tell the shadows
what to do,

the old monk
marveled.

~

HOW WILL YOU

How will you look
when you can't do

your numbers,
the old monk berated

his students.
Even the crows

can count to ten.

~



Tuesday, January 10, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (381) 


ARE THE STARS

Are the stars
big chemistry

and is this
a test,

the old monk asked.

~

THE CRICKETS TELL

The crickets tell you
by their silence

where the earth
is dying,

the old monk said.

~

WE PLAY

We play music --
don't make it into work,
the old monk told the band.

~



Monday, January 09, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (380) 


IT IS THIS

It is this universe
which makes us,

the old monk said.
Think how different

we could be.

~

YEAH, YEAH

Yeah, yeah, string theory,
the old monk says
to the physicist.

Pluck your magic
twanger, Froggie.

~

MAYBE HE DOESN'T

Maybe he doesn't care
that you don't care,

his students said
about the old monk.

~



Sunday, January 08, 2023

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (101) 


YOU ALWAYS

You always wanted
to write something big --
this is bigger
than all of us,
the old monk
told the poet.

~

IF YOU THINK

If you think God
has time to stop
and talk to you,
you're pretty arrogant,
the old monk said.

~

THE UNIVERSE

The universe is serious business
even when you're not thinking about it,
the old monk said.

~

YOU CAN SAY

You can say
you talk to God
but you can't say
he listens,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU HAVE TO

If you have to
talk about it
that counts against you
in the final score,
the old monk
told his students.

~

IF THEY DON'T

If they don't know the answer,
the talk about the question,
the old monk noticed.

~

YOU HAVE TO

You have to do your duty
before you can become
an old monk,
the master said.

~

LETTING GO

Letting go
of hope
never helps,
the old monk said.

~

IT FOLDS

It folds and unfolds --
that's the way
the universe works,
the old monk told
the scientists.

~

ONE AND

One and
the other

can be
both one

and the
other,

like light,
the old monk said.

But this
can't be

proved.

~


THREE OLD MONK POEMS (379) 


I DON'T BEND

I don't bend over backwards
to read upside down,
the old monk told his students.

~

IF I COULD THROW

If I could throw
a ninety-mile-an-hour fastball,

the old monk said,
I wouldn't be able to

throw my curve.

~

YOU HAVE TO

You have to work out
the deals with yourself

before you can work them
out with the devil,

the old monk said.

~



Saturday, January 07, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (378) 


YOU DO IT

You do it fast
so you have time

to do it again
when it doesn't

turn out,
the old monk said.

~

UNDERSTANDING

Understanding
is like a drawer

I don't have
the key for,

the old monk said.

~

PATIENCE IS

Patience is like
sunburn against

a starched shirt,
the old monk said.

~



Thursday, January 05, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (377) 


WHAT WE COVER

What we cover
covers what we fear,
the old monk said.

~

WHAT A BLESSING

What a blessing,
this stone

for my pillow,
the old monk said.

~

IN THAT

In that moment
where that which
shines shines,

the old monk said,
that's where I'll be.

~



Wednesday, January 04, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (376) 


AMONG THE WATCHERS

Among the watchers
someone is always watching,

though the earth-bound
seldom notice,

the old monk said.

~

Sometimes you can't
tell his notes from
his doodles,
the poet said about
the old monk's
notebooks.


~

A poet lives the world
the way God is the universe,
the old monk said.

~





Tuesday, January 03, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (375) 


EXPECTATIONS

Expectations
are always

less reliable
indicators

than bruises,
the old monk says.

~

WE ALL WEAR

We all wear masks,
the old monk said.

Don't be surprised when
I take off this face.

~

IT'S NOT THE MASK

It's not the mask you wear
that makes you a saint,

but what you wear
under the mask,

the old monk says.

~



Monday, January 02, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (374) 


SLEEP SOFT

Sleep soft,
especially where

the ground
is not,

the old monk says.

~

CAN YOU

Can you do what
you can do,

the old monk asked
his students.

This is the test.

~

SHOULD I COUNT

Should I count
the crickets

to see if this
evening there's

room for me,
the old monk asked.

~



Sunday, January 01, 2023

TEN OLD MONK POEMS (100) 

 
WHEN ONE

When one
is four
two is
five --
explain how
that works
in this
universe,
the old monk said.

~

ALL CATS

All cats know
who feeds them,
the old monk said.

~

WHAT HOOTS

What hoots
isn't always
an owl,
the old monk said.

~

IF THEY'RE

If they're laughing,
tell a longer story,
the old monk advised
the comedian.

~

WHAT YOU PRAY FOR

What you pray for --
you're asking God to
stop what he's doing
just for that,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU SPEAK

If you speak
the way a drummer does,
you'll be heard,
the old monk said.

~

STEADY WITH

Steady with enough
variation to
keep it interesting,
the band told
the old monk on bass.

~

YOU DON'T

You don't choose the note,
the note chooses you,
the guitar player told
the old monk.

~

OF COURSE

Of course
they're not all
good ones --
you have to
give them
something to
choose from,
the old monk
told the poet.

~

IT'S STATISCALLY

It's statistically unlikely
that I'll get done before I'm dead,
the old monk said.

~



THREE OLD MONK POEMS (373) 


ONE LIKES IT ALL

One likes it all in one pot
and the other wants to cook them separately --

they can't work the same kitchen,
the old monk said.

~

EVEN AS

Even as the biscuit
is baking

she wants to be
cleaning the oven,

the unfortunate soul,
the old monk said.

~

WHO STIRS

Who stirs the pot
remains calm --

which explains
the universe,

the old monk said.

~



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