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.
~
