Sunday, April 30, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (462)
IF YOU HAVE TO
If you have to
know how to say it
you're not ready,
the master told
the old monk.
~
LISTEN TO
Listen to a lot of talk
if you want to know how
to make a poem sound,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES YOU'RE JUST
Sometimes you're just thinking
and God tells you different,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, April 29, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (461)
SOMETIMES IT'S JUST
Sometimes it's just
rain on the roof,
not God talking,
the old monk said.
~
THE TRAIN RIDE
The train ride to heaven --
you've got to have a ticket,
the old monk said.
~
BLOOD EVERYWHERE
Blood everywhere
is not the way you want
to end a story,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, April 28, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (460)
WHEN YOU DIE
When you die on the mountain
you're closer to heaven,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S ALWAYS
It's always God
just beyond the far
edge of the universe,
the old monk said.
~
THE STEEL
The steel
in what
you do
steels you,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, April 27, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (459)
CERTAINTY AND
Certainty and uncertainty,
which is more worrisome,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU WANT TO
You want to be there
when she needs flowers,
the old monk advised.
~
YOU CAN TELL
You can tell
the girls who do
by watching them
try to smile,
the students told
the old monk.
~
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (458)
YOU CAN'T
You can't
force offerings,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES IT'S
Sometimes it's crickets,
and sometimes it's
the stars talking,
the old monk said.
~
THE STARS HAVE
The stars have secrets
they won't tell you,
the old monk told
the astronomers.
~
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (457)
WHAT THE OLD MONK
What the old monk doesn't know
would require a research grant,
the master told the poet.
~
TIME ONLY
Time only goes backwards
when the stars are where they were,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU FUSS
If you fuss
with every button
eventually
it'll do something,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, April 24, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (456)
CAN YOU BE
Can you be
re-released,
the old monk
wondered.
~
A GOOD COMEDIAN
A good comedian
can't tell a bad story,
the old monk said.
~
DUST DOESN'T
Dust doesn't
tell the same
story as snow,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, April 22, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (455)
THERE ARE AS
There are as many heavens
as there are stars,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU FIND
If you find more than one
they'll want to give them numbers,
the old monk told the amateur
comet watchers.
~
YOU SAY
You say plenty
that means nothing,
the old monk countered.
~
Friday, April 21, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (454)
SOMETIMES THE WORDS
Sometimes the words
look at each other
and don't know what
to say,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
DO NOT
Do not
lie down and die
before it's time,
the old monk said.
You'll know when.
~
IT'S NOT AS IF
It's not as if
this soul is
the only one
you have,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, April 20, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (453)
WISDOM IS
Wisdom is
usually
worn smooth,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU TOUCH
If you touch
Buddha's belly
you touch
everyone
who has touched
Buddha's belly,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN ONLY
You can only
really shine
in darkness,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (452)
JUST TO BE
Just to be clear --
you can't insist that
God talk to you,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WERE
If you were going to
die anyway,
would you want to be
crucified
on one side or the other
of Christ,
the old monk asked.
~
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't know
what prayer does
you might never
find out,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (451)
YOU WANT IT
You want it to be
about place, and it is,
this universe,
the old monk said.
~
IF SOMEONE
If someone finds God,
don't mess it up for them,
the old monk said.
~
YOU NEED
You need your angel
when you can't quite make it,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, April 17, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (450)
YOU PROBABLY
You probably don't really
want to know what
God would do
in your situation,
the old monk said.
~
YOU TAKE GOD
You take God
too serious to
understand him,
the old monk warned.
~
YOU HAVE TO BE
You have to be rested
if you want to touch God,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, April 16, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (450)
IF YOU WANT
If you want to get to heaven
you've got to raise the center
of your attention,
the old monk said.
~
I GET
I get so damned tired
of being cheerful,
the old monk said.
~
BELIEVE THAT GOD
Believe that God
is the air you breathe
and live that way,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, April 15, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (449)
LIKE I SAID
Like I said,
there's only so much
I can say,
so I repeat myself
myself,
the old monk said
on purpose.
~
WHAT YOU DON'T
What you don't want will be
the first thing you get so you
will know it when you see it,
the old monk said.
~
LIVE YOUR LIFE
Live your life
as if you know
you're going to
heaven,
the old monk said.
Takes those chances.
~
Friday, April 14, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (448)
THE MOUNTAIN OFFERS
The mountain offers
what the mountain offers
but you have to go up it
to see,
the old monk told
his students.
~
EVENTUALLY
Eventually you
fall into your own
emptiness,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN DEATH
When death finally takes you,
you won't know it,
the old monk acknowledged.
~
Thursday, April 13, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (447)
WHEN SADNESS
When sadness
makes you happy --
that's very sad,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S NOT
It's not a gulag
on the mountain --
they're hermits
by choice,
the old monk said.
~
IF IT STAYS
If it stays by your feet
and eats burnt toast
give it some milk,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (446)
THAT'S HOW
That's how some of us do it --
stirring magic into our arguments,
the old monk said.
~
I KNEW I WAS
I knew I was going
to break that window
as soon as they told me
not to,
the old monk said.
~
HOW CAN I
How can I see it
if I can't hear it,
the old monk asked.
He was talking
about poetry.
~
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (445)
WISDOM AND
Wisdom and
strawberry jam,
a great
combination,
the old monk said,
like peanut butter
and grape jelly.
~
YOU HAVE TO
You have to walk
on broken glass
before you can
understand your pain,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN'T SAY
You can't say enough
if you know so much,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, April 08, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (444)
THE RAIN DOES NOT
The rain does not
know the stars,
the old monk said,
but the stars know
everything of rain.
~
TO TAME
To tame the beast
first you must
tame yourself,
the old monk said.
~
INERTIA
Inertia has
greater mass
than gravity,
the old monk said.
~
