Wednesday, July 26, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (533)
IF NO ONE
If no one speaks
your language
you're talking code,
the old monk said.
~
O, MISERY
O, misery,
what you want
is a red-headed girl
and what you've got
is a blonde,
the old monk said.
~
THE THING
The thing about water is
it knows where it goes when
it's gone,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (532)
LISTEN
Listen to your instrument,
it will tell you what to play,
the old monk said.
~
YOU WANT TO
You want to wobble
before you fall --
it softens up the ground,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN'T
You can't
have what
you don't,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, July 24, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (531)
FLOW AND OIL
Flow and oil
don't rhyme,
but they could,
the old monk
told the poet.
~
WHEN THINGS
When things rhyme
it's like a bell sounding,
the old monk said.
~
FIND THE PLACE
Find the place
on the mountain
where you are
best. It's not
the same for
two of us,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, July 23, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (530)
PUT THE BEAT
Put the beat
on important words
and pound it
into them,
the old monk told the poet.
~
THERE IS
There is the beat
and the off-
beat and two, three, four,
the old monk told the band.
~
IF YOU'RE SPINNING
If you're spinning a lot of saucers
you don't want to be bothered
is how I understand it,
the old monk said.
~
Friday, July 21, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (529)
EMBARRASSMENT
Embarrassment
is the fool's charm,
the old monk said.
~
YOU MAY SPEAK
You may speak with the dead
but don't be telling them stories,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN THEY TAKE
When they take you
by the hand, that
means something,
the student told
the old monk.
~
Thursday, July 20, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (528)
NO MATTER
No matter how far
off you go, you
have to know the beat,
the old monk told
the guitar-player.
~
IF WHAT
If you have to look for
wisdom,
you won't ever
find it,
the old monk said.
~
PATTERN IS
Pattern is there
in all things --
you just have to
see it,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (527)
IF YOU WRITE
If you write so much
how do you know
what is good,
the old monk asked
the poet.
~
SCIENTISTS DON'T
Scientists don't strike up
the usual conversation,
the old monk said.
~
YOU'RE EITHER
You're either
Howdy Doody
or Buffalo Bob --
those are the choices,
the old monk said.
~
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (526)
YOU CLIMB
You climb
when what you want
is to fall,
the old monk said.
~
THE BEAT
The beat
is the beat --
there's not much more
to say about it,
the drummer told
the old monk.
~
IF YOU'RE ASLEEP
If you're asleep when
the angel of death comes,
should I wake you,
the master asked
the old monk.
~
Monday, July 17, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (525)
EVENTUALLY
Eventually
the silence is
not so,
the old monk said.
~
YOU NEED
You need to wander
40 years in the desert
before you can talk
about God's people,
the old monk said.
~
THE MORE
The more you worry
the slipperier it gets,
the old monk warned.
~
Sunday, July 16, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (524)
STUDYING ROCKS
Studying rocks
teaches patience,
the old monk said.
~
YOU CAN RUN
You can run until
God catches you,
then you're done,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU'RE COUNTING
When you're counting
you have to know
where the one is,
the old monk told the band.
~
Saturday, July 15, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (523)
IF GOD WAS
If God was
talking to you,
you'd know it,
the old monk said.
~
IF GOD
If God
loves you
you'll know
that too,
the old monk said.
~
GOD IS NOT
God is not my business,
the old monk said.
God is not anyone's business
and he doesn't need
your money.
~
Friday, July 14, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (522)
YOU CAN LIE
You can lie to the devil
but you can't lie to God,
the old monk said.
~
WHEN YOU GET
When you get up on
don't fall off of,
the old monk advised.
~
HOPING FOR
Hoping for
holiness
is not
enough,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, July 13, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (521)
NOTICE
Notice all the things
that are not said
to understand why
communication
is a problem,
the old monk advised.
~
SOMETIMES IT'S
Sometimes it's the wind
which runs you ragged
and sometimes it's
your heart dancing,
the old monk said.
~
IN EVERY ENDEAVOR
In every endeavor
if you land right-side-up,
keep rolling,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (520)
HOPE SWIMS
Hope swims like a cat,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU THINK
If you think
you know the plan,
you don't,
the old monk said.
~
HALF A SMILE
Half a smile
is when they're
looking at you
funny,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, July 10, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (519)
WISDOM IS
Wisdom is the shine
worn on to things,
the old monk said.
~
THOSE PLACES
Those places you go
when God's not with you,
don't,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU LIVED
If you lived in trees,
you'd want a tail,
the old monk decided.
~
Sunday, July 09, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (518)
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't know
when it's time to
roll over, you might
write all night,
the old monk warned.
We think he was
speaking from experience,
the poet said.
~
IF YOU KNOW
If you know
what your fingers know
you could play piano,
the old monk predicted.
~
DON'T MAKE
Don't make a fuss
and don't clean it up --
it'll be a poem,
the old monk told
the poet.
~
Friday, July 07, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (517)
SLOGANS
Slogans they have
no use for --
that's what I write,
the old monk admitted.
~
THE CHURCH
The church is bigger
in small communities,
the old monk observed.
~
YOU ONLY
You only have to say it once
and it's yours to say again,
the old monk said.
~
Thursday, July 06, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (516)
SOMETIMES YOU WANT
Sometimes you want
the drummer to grab the cymbal
and sometimes you don't,
the old monk said.
~
ON THE MOUNTAIN
On the mountain
the spirits settle
where they wish,
the old monk said.
~
IT'S ONLY
It's only a good deal
until someone
sells it cheaper,
the old monk said.
~
Wednesday, July 05, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (515)
HOW CLOSE
How close we are to death
when we can see what's precious,
the old monk said.
~
READ EVERYONE
Read everyone
and write to sound like
yourself,
the old monk told the poet.
~
LIGHT THAT
Light that lays
a certain way
gets my attention,
the old monk admitted.
~
Tuesday, July 04, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (514)
TO THINK
To think that
music was once
about dancing,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES / WHEN
Sometimes
when they want
your attention,
they bump you,
the student told
the old monk
about girls.
~
SEVEN FROM
Seven from two is five
in my math,
the old monk said.
~
Monday, July 03, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (513)
I WANT
I want my poems to sound as if they were
written in a different alphabet,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU CAN
If you can be
both and neither,
you are light
and darkness,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU ARE
If you are tired of church,
think about how God feels,
the old monk said.
~
Sunday, July 02, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (512)
STEAL MY POEMS
Steal my poems
if you want to,
the old monk said.
That's where folk
sayings come from.
~
IT'S NOT ENOUGH
It's not enough
to understand,
the old monk said.
You want to be
able to predict.
~
YOU ANGELS
Your angels keep
their own counsel,
the old monk said.
What he meant was
they won't burden you
with their problems.
~
Saturday, July 01, 2023
THREE OLD MONK POEMS (511)
I MAKE
I make the kind
of mistakes you'd
want me to,
the old monk told
his editor.
~
IF IT DOESN'T
If it doesn't do
anybody any good,
put it in the warehouse
til its time comes,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU WANT
If you want to
know a place
you have to get out
and sit in the dirt,
the old monk said.
~
