Tuesday, February 28, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (419) 


YOU ALWAYS SLOW

You always slow down
when wisdom comes,
the old monk said,

at least that is true
when I am driving.

~

PATIENCE IRRITATES

Patience irritates
some of you

and others don't
understand that,

the old monk said.

~

WAITING IS

Waiting is what
old men do,
the old monk said.

~



Monday, February 27, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (418) 


MULBERRY STAINS

Mulberry stains
are worth it,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES YOU STIR

Sometimes you stir it
all together and call it

fruit salad,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU WANT TO

If you want to know
how to grow things,

the old monk said,
watch what weeds do,

and do that.

~



Sunday, February 26, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (417) 


ALL THE GOOD

All the good ones
are taken is how it turns out

when you're looking for
a cave on the mountain,

the old monk said.

~

TAKE WHAT

Take what you need
and leave some
for Jesus

would be good advice
if I were Christian,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES / EVERYTHING

Sometimes
everything

you touch
touches

sorrow,
the old monk said.

~



Saturday, February 25, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (416) 


EVERYTHING WE SAY

Everything we say
is code for something

beyond what
the dictionary says

the words mean,
the old monk said.

~

THE MASTER OFTEN

The master often pointed
and I couldn't see

what he was pointing at --
now I understand that,

the old monk said.

~

THE WAY

The way
you look
at it

is what
you see,

the old
monk said.

~



Friday, February 24, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (415) 


IF YOU THINK

If you think about it
until you break it

you've over-thought it,
the old monk says.

~

ALL THINGS

All things
are good things

until you look
at the bad side,

the old monk said.

~

SCREAM, BUT DON'T

Scream, but don't
pick up the pieces,

the old monk told
those going to

the horror show.

~



Wednesday, February 22, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (414) 


WHEN THEY GET

When they get put away,
I can't find them --

that's my problem,
the old monk said.

~

IF YOU CAN'T

If you can't dance
you'd better form a band,
the old monk said.

~

HOW LANGUAGE

How language
figures
itself out

is something,
the old monk
told the poet.

~



Monday, February 20, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (413) 


YOU LEARN

You learn to write
by hearing folks talk

all the while
you're growing up,

the old monk said.

~

HOW MUCH

How much do you
need to need to

be happy,
the old monk asked.

~

YOU CAN WATCH

You can watch
a hundred movies

and you still won't
see it -- life,

the old monk said.

~



Sunday, February 19, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (412) 


AS MUCH AS

As much as you want
might surprise you,
the old monk said.

~

IN THE GRAND

In the grand scheme
we are a small cinder

flying in the darkness,
the old monk said.

~

DISTANCE

Distance
is where you don't

usually get to,
the old monk said.

~



Saturday, February 18, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (411) 


ANY MOUNTAIN

Any mountain
is your mountain

if you choose it
and it does not

kill you,
the old monk said.

~

ONE SAYS

One says how much
can you do before sleep

and one says how much
sleep can you do --

surprisingly,
they're still together,

the old monk said.

~

FAILURE

Failure
is another way

of getting taken
home by the cops,

the old monk said.

~



Friday, February 17, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (410) 


EVERYTHING

Everything
that is
anything

is something,
the old monk said.

~

IF I WRITE

If I'd write
upside down

it might make
more sense,

the old monk said.

~

THE ONE WHO

The one who watches
watches

and sees ten thousand things
come apart,

the old monk says.

~



Thursday, February 16, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (409) 


THE WIND DOESN'T

The wind doesn't
talk much

but still we listen,
the old monk sald.

~

DO IT AGAIN

Do it again
to make sure it will

do it again,
the old monk said.

~

THE MISSING MATTER

The missing matter is distance,
the old monk told the astronomer.

~



Wednesday, February 15, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (408) 


NOTHING IS

Nothing is nothing
on the mountain,
the old monk said.

~

NOT EVERYTHING

Not everything
is something,
the old monk said.

~

DO EVERYTHING

Do everything you can
and then do one more

just for show,
the old monk said.

~



Tuesday, February 14, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (407) 


I GO WHERE

I go where
silence goes

when the streets
are noisy,

the old monk said.

~

HALF THE WAYS

Half the ways
you can take it

are probably
twice what I meant,

the old monk said.

~

HOW EASY

How easy
it seems

during practice,
the old monk said.

~



Monday, February 13, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (406) 


IF YOU WANT

If you want
everyone to hear it,

the old monk said,
say it quietly.

~

WHAT GOES UP

What goes up
the mountain
is not

what comes down,
you understand that,
right,

the old monk
told his students.

~

WHERE THE SKY

Where the sky is dark,
tomorrow's coming,
the old monk said.

~



Sunday, February 12, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (405) 


THE NAIL MIGHT

The nail might
 make the hole

but it's the wood
that holds on

and won't let go,
the old monk said.

~

HOW MUCH

How much do you
have to cross out
to get one good word,

the old monk
asked the poet.

~

YOU CAN HIDE

You can hide
many of them
but not all,

so let me see
what you've got,
the old monk said.

~



Saturday, February 11, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (404) 


OLD MONK

Old monk.
Hermit.
Mountain.
Blue.
You see
the problem,
don't you?

~

WHERE DOES

Where does the wind go
when the wind goes

where wind goes,
the old monk asked.

~

HURRYING UP

Hurrying up
will only

slow you down,
the old monk said.

~



Friday, February 10, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (403) 


WHAT COLOR

What color
the world is
depends upon

the color
you can see
and which

dimension
you live in,
the old monk saidf

~

THAT WHICH IS

That which is is,
don't even talk about it,
the old monk said.

~

HIS THINKING

His thinking
is quite an elaborate

structure which
collapsed on him,

the master said
about the the old monk.

~



Wednesday, February 08, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (402) 


ASK YOURSELF

Ask yourself
if the stars

would have you,
then act

accordingly,
the old monk said.

~

SOMETIMES

Sometimes
what you want

is your
unhappiness,

the old monk said.

~

THE OLD MONK'S ADVICE

The old monk's advice
for star travelers --

turn left at the edge.

~



Tuesday, February 07, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (401) 


CAN YOU

Can you forget
that you forgot,
the old monk asked them.

~

IF YOU DO

If you do it
and they know

you've done it,
you're done,

the old monk
warned them.

~

THE STARS

The stars
glow

with all
they know,

the old monk said.

~



Monday, February 06, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (400) 


HOW GREEN

How green
the world is

when the blue
stuff falls,

the old monk said.

~

THE TIME TO

The time to turn
is when the wind does,

the djinn tells
desert travelers,

the old monk said.

~

YOU CAN TRY

You can try
but you can't

outwalk your master,
the old monk said.

You can only
outwalk yourself.

~



Sunday, February 05, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (399) 


I SEE RIGHT

I see right through
what I do

into the nothing
it becomes,

the old monk said.

~

IF YOU WANT

If you want to do
what you do

you can do
what you want to,

the old monk said.

~

SO ALL TIME

So all time
and space
and matter

was compressed
for the that moment,
the Big Bang?

Where was it kept
beforehand,
the old monk asked.

~



Saturday, February 04, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (398) 


EVERYTHING

Everything you lose
is something to find,
the old monk said.

~

ASK YOURSELF

Ask yourself
what can you do

that needs to be
done, not what

hasn't been done,
the old monk said.

~

YOU KNOW WHAT

You know awhat to do
but do you know how to do it?

They're not the same
and they don't help each other,

the old monk said.

~



Friday, February 03, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (397) 


NOTICE WHAT

Notice what you notice,
the old monk said.
That's the path to wisdom.

~

WE ARE ALL

We are all of them,
those who lived
in the water,

in the trees,
on the plains,
in the desert,

those who found
a way and those
who lost theirs,

we are they,
the old monk said.

~

WHERE

Where the pathway
is worn, no one

decides otherwise,
the old monk said.

~



Thursday, February 02, 2023

THREE OLD MONK POEMS (396) 

 
THE UNIVERSE KNOWS

The universe knows --
it just doesn't tell us,
the old monk said.

~

HOW MUCH

How much can the stars pull me
before they've pulled me apart,
the old monk wondered.

~

CAREWORN MEANS

Careworn means
it has been

loved a lot,
the old monk said.

~



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