Wednesday, May 31, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (488)
IS HAVING
Is having what you need
enough to get you started,
the old monk asked.
~
SILENCE IS
Silence is
the other side
from rumor,
the old monk said.
~
IF I COULD
If I could remember
what I said before
I'd be repeating myself,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (487)
ALL THE STONES
All the stones
are women weeping
for their lost
sons and daughters,
the old monk said.
~
IF IT'S SUCH
If it's such
an easy trick,
let's see you
do it,
the old monk said
before he disappeared.
~
IF GOD DOESN'T
If God doesn't want us to play with it,
why'd he make it so handy,
the student asked the old monk.
~
Monday, May 29, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (486)
IF YOU LIVE
If you live well
you only carry
one moment,
the old monk said.
~
IF THEY ASK
If they ask you
how you liked it,
take a second serving,
the old monk advised.
~
WHAT YOU SEEK
What you seek
is always farther
up the mountain,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, May 27, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (485)
WITHOUT
Without the stuff
of stone,
what are stars,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU CAN'T OFFER
You can't offer
what you don't have
unless you're selling
short,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU HAVE
If you have to give it
a name,
call it what it's most like,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, May 26, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (484)
IF YOU CAN'T
If you can't agree
to agree,
that's a kind of
agreement,
the old monk said.
~
FINDING GOD
Finding God
is like finding
a girl really has
red hair,
it's intimate,
the old monk said.
~
IN THE LEVELS
In the levels of being
the lowest level is stone.
It is also the highest,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, May 25, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (483)
DON'T WRITE
Don't write just
the good ones --
write them all,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
YOU DO IT
You do it
because you won't know
unless you do,
the old monk said.
~
EVERYONE
Everyone
has a sex tape
but me,
the old monk noted.
~
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (482)
WHEN THERE'S
When there's nothing
left to say,
there is,
the old monk said.
~
ALL I DO
All I do
is write. I'm
a writer,
the poet told
the old monk.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want to get
God's attention,
you have to throw signs
like a third-base coach,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (481)
SIX AND ONE
Six and one
are related
through five,
the old monk said.
~
YOU'LL NEVER
You'll never get there
stopping for pie
every few miles,
the old monk said.
~
IF I DIDN'T
If I didn't
talk to the stars
every couple of nights
I wouldn't have
much to say,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, May 22, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (480)
HOW DOES
How does the wind know
what wind should do,
the old monk wondered.
~
IF I COULD
If I could paint
it would be blue
and it would have
black lines in it,
the old monk said.
~
IF THIS
If this isn't
what God wants,
what is it,
the old monk asked.
~
Sunday, May 21, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (479)
WHEN THEY BUMP
When they bump you with them
it's on purpose,
the student told the old monk.
~
YOU MIGHT THINK
You might think
I'm a poet,
but I'm a student,
the old monk was told.
~
EVEN A SMALL
Even a small fire
is a nice place to gather,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, May 19, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (478)
WANT IS
Want is what God is,
the old monk said.
~
SOME WILL
Some will find God
in a swamp,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN'T
You can't write about nothing
without practice,
the old monk told the poet.
~
Thursday, May 18, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (477)
SOMETIMES THE OLD MONK
Sometimes the old monk
writes in a code
even he can't break,
the master said.
~
IT WOULD
It would rain and
the old monk's father
would say clean up
the toolshed, boys.
~
YOU MAY NOT
You may not know
that you're living
history,
the old monk noted.
~
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (476)
BEING
Being
isn't the only thing
God does,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT GOD
What God wants
God gets,
the old monk said.
~
I WANT
I want carpet that looks like
hay on the floor of the barn,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (475)
SOMETIMES JUST
Sometimes just
touching is sex,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT UNIVERSE
What universe
wouldn't need cats,
the old monk wondered.
~
WHEN THEY SAY
When they say
don't
they don't mean
please,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, May 15, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (474)
NOT UNDERSTANDING
Not understanding
is not a near miss,
it's a plane wreck,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't
get it
on the mountain
you won't,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WON'T
You won't find
the right word
until you start
looking sideways,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
Sunday, May 14, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (473)
THE STORY'S
The story's not funny
until you tell it,
the old monk said.
~
WHAT DOES
What does
what does that even mean
even mean,
the old monk asked.
~
YOU WANT TO
You want to
put the words
together
so they won't
come apart,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
Friday, May 12, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (472)
IT'S NOT
It's not the cane
tapping on the floor I count --
it's the silences between,
the old monk said.
~
EVERY BET
Every bet
changes the betting
until the windows close --
is that what
you're telling me,
the old monk said.
~
OBSESSION
Obsession
doesn't make
expertise,
but it helps,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, May 11, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (471)
IF YOU FALL
If you fall far enough
into the darkness,
it'll be morning,
the old monk promised.
~
IF YOU'VE GOT
If you've got
everything you want
what do you have
to live for,
the old monk asked.
~
HOW OFTEN
How often do you say
but
before you tell the full story,
the old monk asked.
~
Tuesday, May 09, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (470)
THERE ARE SOME
There are some things
even the old monk
doesn't want to say,
the master said.
~
TWO IS
Two is easy,
the old monk said.
One cuts
and the other
chooses.
Three?
The one who cuts
gets what's left
after the others
argue.
~
THE OLD MONK'S
The old monk's
patience-maker
works best when
it doesn't work,
the master said.
~
Monday, May 08, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (469)
HE SAYS
He says the same thing every day --
which is not what we write down,
the students said about the old monk.
~
IF GOD
If God was
talking to you,
you'd know it,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S NOT
It's not that
there is a God,
it's that you
want a God,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, May 07, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (468)
GOD WANTS
God wants nothing.
That's how he is,
the old monk said.
~
YOU DON'T SELL
You don't sell a dog --
the dog sells itself,
the pet-store owner
told the old monk.
~
THE ANSWER
The answer is in the question.
I have said that before,
and I'll say it again.
The answer is in the question,
the old monk said.
~
Saturday, May 06, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (467)
WHO YOU ARE
Who you are
is not as easy as
buying new clothes,
the old monk said.
~
A BIG SMILE
A big smile
isn't always
a lot of help,
the old monk said.
~
IF I COULD
If I could write fast enough
I would tell you everything,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, May 04, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (466)
YOU KEEP
You keep flying
until God clears you
for landing,
the old monk told
his students.
~
IF GOD
If God told the truth
you would see the angels,
the old monk said.
~
EVERYTHING HAPPENS
Everything happens
when nothing does,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, May 03, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (465)
YOU CAN'T
You can't explain thunder
if you don't know lightning,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD FARMERS
The old farmers
always dance
a little slower,
the old monk noticed.
~
DON'T MAKE
Don't make a deal
after you've got
a snoutful,
the old monk advised.
~
Tuesday, May 02, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (464)
IT'S TRUE
It's true the old monk
likes the night --
the stars aren't liars,
the master said.
~
WHEN I TRY
When I try to
shape it, it
all goes wrong,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
THE IAMB
The iamb
is God's foot,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
Monday, May 01, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (463)
THE WAGES
The wages of sin
won't pay for burial,
the old monk said.
~
THE WORLD
The world doesn't see
what God kisses,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU REACH
When you reach down the hole
and don't know what you've got a hold of
is not the time to make a plan,
the old monk said.
~
