Thursday, April 29, 2021
SOMETIMES RAIN
Sometimes rain is like grace
on the dry fields.
Sometimes rain is like rain.
Not even the weatherman
knows when you'll get which.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (44)
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
RAIN
Monday, April 26, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (43)
Sunday, April 25, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (12)
BONES BREAK
Bone break
where they have to
break,
the old monk says.
It's the same rule
the stars follow.
~
I'M SO FAR
I'm so far
ahead of myself,
the old monk says,
I can almost
catch my tail.
~
NOT SO SOON
Not so soon
is soon enough,
the old monk says,
where no one bothers.
~
STARS OR MOUNTAINS
Stars or mountains,
the old monk says--
either will do.
~
WHEN I TRY
When I try silence,
the old monk says,
the stars are loudest.
~
I HAVE TO SAY
I have to say
what I have to say,
the old monk says.
The devil
doesn't like it.
~
THE DEVIL SAYS
The devil says
I should hold my tongue,
the old monk says.
Even if I could,
what would I want to?
~
THE SORT OF THING
It's the sort of thing I like,
the old monk said,
the stars telling their stories.
~
SUCH A FRIEND
Such a friend
as can share
your silence,
the old monk says --
keep him!
~
I DON'T KNOW
I don't know
what it is,
either,
the old monk said.
It works, so
I turn it on.
~
RAPTURE
Rapture
is not
a final
thing. It is
ordinary
among
the most
extraordinary
of days,
one moment,
another,
released
with wonder.
Saturday, April 24, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (42)
Friday, April 23, 2021
LOVING HER
Thursday, April 22, 2021
THE DISPOSABLE
The disposable
line ask for
nothing.
Write something
hard like rock
brought up
by winter's
heave, left
to warm
in spring sun,
permanent,
mythic.
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (41)
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
THIS PLACE
Monday, April 19, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (40)
Sunday, April 18, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (11)
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't
know what it is,
the old monk says,
don't waste it.
~
HOW MUCH
How much can you endure,
the old monk asked them.
How pure is your heart?
~
AT THE THEATER
The old monk went
to the theater.
Why do you hang
around here,
they asked him.
He said: I don't want
to miss the feature.
~
WRESTLING
Wrestling the poem,
the old monk says,
I don't give up
until it does.
~
THE OLD MONK'S SERMON
Sometimes
what's most dear
we don't know
we have.
~
TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
Turn out the lights
before you're done,
the old monk said.
You'll see things
differently.
~
IF IT WORKS
If it works,
the old monk said,
keep working it
til it won't.
~
IF WHAT YOU WANT
If what you want
is nothing,
the old monk said,
that's something
you can get.
~
CROW GOES
Crow goes
where coyote can't.
Go with crow,
the old monk says.
~
ASKED ABOUT PREACHERS
Asked about preachers
the old monk said,
don't get me started.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (39)
Saturday, April 17, 2021
WE ARE
We are nothing but
a darkness between the atoms
which hold us together.
That is to say,
we are the light
which consumes all things.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (38)
Friday, April 16, 2021
ALL THE UNIVERSE
All the universe
but one bubble
in a swirling pot
beyond us. So much
more than we know,
those other places
we cannot reach.
All the life and death
and resurrection
of endless others,
we think it matters.
This universe, too,
this moment, matters,
until it doesn't.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (37)
Thursday, April 15, 2021
THIS TOO
This too shall pass,
this day, this earth,
this universe,
a dust mote,
light and light's
disappearance.
The star we saw
last night, was it
there as we looked,
or was it only
its memory.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (36)
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
STONES AND STARS
Stones left in the spring
field by winter heave.
Tough grass just green
and the budding leaves
on trees. Mudded earth.
The run of river.
The wind, sun, and sky,
and at night the stars.
Of these we come
and to them go.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (35)
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
THIS MUSIC
Branches of the cedar,
waving arms, a conductor
leading the music
where it goes. Or, no,
it's music leading the
conductor, the branches.
HAWK. WIND.
Monday, April 12, 2021
THE SOURCE
RED BUDS
Sunday, April 11, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (10)
WINE AND HOLINESS
Wine and holiness
are my companions,
the old monk says --
one more than the other.
~
MY HEART
My heart has
always been lazy,
the old monk says.
Heaven is
perfect for me.
~
HEAVEN WILL BE
Heaven will be home
for the homeless,
the old monk says.
Wait for it, brothers.
Wait for it, sun
on the mountain.
~
THE STARS ARE
The stars are patient
with the night,
the old monk says.
The wind in the pines,
not so much.
~
YOU CAN ASK
You can ask the tiger,
the old monk says,
but you might not like
what he has to say.
~
WHAT THE MOUNTAIN
What the mountain
doesn't say,
you don't want
to hear,
the old monk says.
~
IN THE DARKNESS
In the darkness
is where darkness
hides itself,
the old monk says.
~
ONE STANDS
One stands
on the mountain
where no one
is seen,
the old monk says.
One hears
voices
in the distance
and watches
the late afternoon
light enter
the woods,
the air glowing
green above
the moss.
Here comes old
Wang Wei himself.
Say good evening.
~
OH, YES
Oh, yes, sometimes
I confuse myself
with myself
and don't know
which way to go,
the old monk said.
And sometimes
confusion is
just what I need
to find the way.
~
OF ALL THE STARS
Of all the stars,
the old monk says,
not even
the Great Attractor
is the greatest,
for it, too, is
being pulled
even farther
into darkness --
we don't know
by what, as we
are unable to
see past God and
God's companions.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (34)
Saturday, April 10, 2021
ADDRESS
CROWS FLYING
Friday, April 09, 2021
THE MORE
IN SOME LANGUAGE (33)
Thursday, April 08, 2021
PALE / AS
A WIND
Wednesday, April 07, 2021
WHAT WE KNOW
IN SOME LANGUAGE (32)
Tuesday, April 06, 2021
A PROMISE
A WIND
Monday, April 05, 2021
SOME MEDITATIONS FROM EARLY APRIL
(1)
What the
poem
depends on:
the pain
which begins and
ends it.
(2)
What we can be:
a matter of scale.
Within us, universes.
Beyond us, more.
(3)
We want to be
mountains.
We want to be
stones
warmed by the sun.
(4)
Even where
there is no
light, there must
be an idea
of light. Hope
demands it.
(5)
How cold
that particle
of light
from a star
three quarters
of the way
back to the
Big Bang, still
moving towards
us at the
speed of what,
and we see it
only now.
How old
was it then
when God said
Let there be
and now it is
we who are
the stuff of stars.
(6)
What, you think such words
want for us to find them?
No, they weren't there at
all, until just now.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (31)
Sunday, April 04, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (9)
IN THE DARKNESS
In the darkness
any star's light
will do,
the old monk says.
Let it
shine on you.
~
IF YOU UNDERSTOOD
If you understood,
the old monk said,
we wouldn't even
be talking.
~
IT DOES TAKE
It does take much darkness
to scare up a poem,
the old monk said.
~
THE OLD MONK'S STORY
We must be who we are,
the fly said to the frog.
The frog said Gulp.
~
A POEM'S LIKE
A poem's like a joke
that's really hard to tell,
the old monk said.
~
THE MONK LIVES
The monk lives his
holy silence.
Even the deer
in the shadow
knows the saint's
great patience.
~
HE COULD
He could give it all
up for silence,
the old monk said,
speaking of another
old poet. Well,
except for the wind
and the music
and maybe the poems.
O, and chasing
the women, on the off
chance he'd catch one.
~
HOW MANY
How many tricks can you do,
they asked the old monk.
How many cards are in the deck,
he responded.
~
THE GALLOPING STARS
The galloping stars,
the old monk says,
all those horses
running away and
not coming back.
~
WHAT DO
What do
I have to
tell myself
so I know
what I mean,
the old monk
wondered.
~
CROWS
Saturday, April 03, 2021
DRIED STALKS
Dried stalks wait
the winter
wind. Snow will
grace their
beauty, then
bury them.
None hopes
for more, yet some
remember spring.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (30)
Friday, April 02, 2021
EXPECT NOTHING
Expect nothing
and morning
will bring joy.
We know that,
yet we don't.
Look away,
then look back:
there is hawk,
there is fox,
coyote
standing side-
wise to hope.
THE LANGUAGE
Thursday, April 01, 2021
THE WORLD HOLDS
The world holds
what the world
holds but it
cannot hold
everything
so the trees
let go and
wind takes leaves
and light takes
the darkness.
Joy sends sorrow
down the road.
IN SOME LANGUAGE (29)
