Wednesday, March 31, 2021
THE GEESE
The geese
of November
remember
summer
and wonder
at the chill
which drives them
and the slant
of light which
calls them home.
SOMEWHERE BEYOND
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
THE DOVE TAKES
The dove takes
sudden flight
and disappears
into the sun.
There is nothing
it doesn't know
of this moment,
except that
the past has
already come
and tomorrow
is not promised.
To be so blessed.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (28)
Monday, March 29, 2021
LESSON OF THE SILVER MAPLE
Throw your seed
wide and wildly
and when autumn
comes, let go
your leaves with
equal abandon.
We are here, it says,
for only
a hundred years.
KNOT, OR
Sunday, March 28, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (8)
HOLD ON
Hold on
as the universe
spins towards
silence,
the old monk says,
and count
your blessings.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
on the quiet
mountain
the monk's breath
is like wind
in the pines.
~
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
goes up the mountain
with nothing.
He comes down
with everything.
How do you
do that, they ask.
Do what? he says.
~
IN HIS BEST WORK
In his best work
the old monk empties
himself. He strives
for the silence
of stone.
~
AS ABOVE
As above,
the old monk says,
so below,
where sky
touches
the mountain.
~
YES, WE NEED
Yes, we need
something greater
than ourselves,
the old monk says.
That is why
the stars keep
keep coming out.
~
THE TEMPLE BELL
The temple bell
sounds
and fades.
Nothing lasts,
the old monk says,
but sadness.
~
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
bows his head
and speaks to
the great pine.
Grandfather,
he says.
O, Grandfather.
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
I'm inhabited
by angels
who jabber,
the old monk
says, sometimes
by those who
know silence.
~
BE PATIENT
Be patient,
the old monk says,
like water
wearing the rock.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (27)
Saturday, March 27, 2021
OLD POET
For all his love
of holiness
he was not a saint
but a scoundrel
like the rest of them,
a common poet
who put words first
and loved the stars
and didn't think
much of heaven.
ALL THE BIRDS
Friday, March 26, 2021
THE TREES TALK
The trees talk all night.
They never sleep.
They hug the earth
and never sleep.
The wind which rattles
leaves does not
frighten them.
Their roots hold each
other in such wind,
hold, I tell you.
The trees talk all night
and wait for light.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (26)
Thursday, March 25, 2021
LONESOMENESS
CROWS STRETCHING
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
LITTLE AND LESS
IN SOME LANGUAGE (25)
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
LIGHT/HAWK
A KIND OF
Monday, March 22, 2021
POET
The wind walks with you,
whichever direction
you want to go,
and brings with it
what you need. Listen.
It tells everything.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (24)
Sunday, March 21, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (7)
DON'T TURN ASIDE
Don't turn aside
going up the mountain
or coming down,
the old monk said.
You lose yourself
looking away.
~
THESE STRANGE STONES
These strange stones,
the old monk said.
You plant them.
Sometimes they
come up flowers
and sometimes
they don't come
up at all.
~
IF I HAVE TO
If I have to
come down the mountain
to teach you,
the old monk
told his students,
you won't like what
I have to say.
~
AH, THE WIND
Ah, the wind
in the old pines,
the old monk says.
Always the same song.
~
THE OLD MONK
The old monk
slips the silence
and sleeps.
~
THE ECSTASY
The ecstasy
of stillness
cannot be
spoken, the old
monk says, unless by
the other you
you become.
~
CONFUSION
Confusion,
the old monk says,
is the way
forward. What
you know won't
get you there.
~
BIRDS
Throw enough
mud
at the sky,
the old monk says--
see what flies.
~
NOT ALL POETS
Not all poets
who say they love
the rain love
the rain. Some
love the idea
of rain without
the getting wet,
the old monk says.
~
TO BE ONE THING
To be one thing
among things is
what the old monk
wants. To be
without desire
is also
what he wants.
~
THE COLOR
Saturday, March 20, 2021
LIKE A DOG'S EAR
Like a dog's ear
asking "What?"
the day waits,
the sun patient
at its rounds,
the wind letting
off, joy making
its morning noise.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (23)
Friday, March 19, 2021
CLOUDS SCRAPE
Clouds scrape
at the sun-
shine. Autumn
wind bites.
The world tilts
and the season
turns with it.
What we know
of darkness is
its promise
of the light.
SNOW
Thursday, March 18, 2021
THE TREES' VERSION
The cry you hear
is not singing.
It is the sound
of steel meeting
the living wood.
It is the sound
we make before
the headlong fall.
It is the sound
of dying.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (22)
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
IS IT
THE SNOW IS
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
SLANT, LIKE
Slant, like the light,
we tell it as
we can. No one
brings us offerings.
Yet we tell it.
They don't understand.
And we don't know
any other
way to say it.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (21)
Monday, March 15, 2021
SO THE GREY
THE STARS'
Sunday, March 14, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (6)
YOU MAY WONDER
You may wonder
who I am,
the old monk says.
Go ahead.
I don't know
what to tell you.
~
SOMETIMES SOLITUDE
Sometimes solitude
is the companion
you seek, the old monk
says. Sometimes it's friends
to drink your wine with.
~
THE STARS KEEP SPEAKING
The stars keep speaking
of forever,
the old monk says,
even as my heart
begins to fail.
~
YOU KEEP LOOKING
You keep looking
out beyond,
the old monk says,
when what you need
is at your feet.
~
DISTANCE IS
Distance is
a kind of sorrow,
the old monk says,
when all your friends
are left behind.
~
IF ONLY
If only
the old monk
had friends,
the old monk
said, he wouldn't
be lonely.
Yet the cost
in stillness
worries him.
~
IN THE GOOD POEM
In the good poem,
the old monk says,
what you say
in the last line
is already
in the first line
and in every
line between.
~
THE OLD MONK SAYS
The old monk says
it looks like
the light is off
and I am quiet,
yet I might
still be working.
~
YOU BUY
You buy what I'm selling?
the old monk asked us.
It's not the kind of deal
you make with the devil.
~
THE OLD MONK
TOLD HIS MASTER
I said
I'd write down
what you said.
I didn't say
I meant it.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (20)
Saturday, March 13, 2021
POEM-CATCHER
LAST STAR
Friday, March 12, 2021
WALK THE SLOW
Walk the slow
loveliness.
The world will
come with you.
You see, touch,
listen. You wave
to a neighbor.
Even the wind
kisses this
stillness.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (19)
Thursday, March 11, 2021
THE BIRDS
The birds,
even sparrows,
spend the morning
preaching.
The moon holds
the western sky,
the sun the east.
This is not news,
yet all things
are lifted.
THE EMPTINESS
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
THE LAST/FLOWERS
The last
flowers
where frost
has touched
them, the
paleness
of their
autumn
patience,
sweetness
in their
dying.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (18)
Tuesday, March 09, 2021
NOTHING
HOW PALE
Monday, March 08, 2021
LEAF BLOWER
IN SOME LANGUAGE (17)
Sunday, March 07, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (5)
DON'T MAKE IT
Don't make it
a job,
the old monk said.
Be like
the grasses.
Be.
~
HOW DID THE TREES
How did the trees
ever climb up
this mountain,
the old monk
wondered, weary
and resting.
~
DON'T STOP
Don't stop,
the old monk said,
before the stopping
starts.
I've said this
before, yes?
Let me add:
don't start
before the stopping
stops.
~
TO FEEL GOOD
To feel good is okay,
the old monk said.
To feel fine is better.
There's a reason
I live in the mountains.
~
DON'T PUSH IT
Don't push it.
Don't push,
the old monk said.
Let it
come by itself.
~
WHO BLESSES
Who blesses
who blesses
us, the old
monk wondered.
~
COUNT THEM ON YOUR FINGERS
Count them on your fingers,
the old monk told the poets.
If you need your toes,
your line's too long.
~
SHE WOULD SAY
She would say
this is nonsense,
the old monk said.
That's how you know
she is right.
~
DOES THIS OCCUR
Does this occur once
or should I write it down,
the old monk asked
the master.
~
THE OLD MONK SAID
The old monk said,
finally, I am
that guy who scares me.
~
EVENING
Saturday, March 06, 2021
NOT THAT
IN SOME LANGUAGE (16)
Friday, March 05, 2021
SUN LIKE/AUTUMN
Sun like
autumn
leaves on
wet ground.
Someone
walks here
who loves
it now,
at this
last
moment,
someone
who will
endure
another
winter
for one
more day
like this.
CEMETERY
Thursday, March 04, 2021
OUT
IN SOME LANGUAGE (15)
Wednesday, March 03, 2021
WHAT CAME
HAWK IS NOT
Tuesday, March 02, 2021
POET
IN SOME LANGUAGE (14)
Monday, March 01, 2021
DISIN-
OH, YES
