Monday, May 31, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (58)
Sunday, May 30, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (17)
ADVICE IS LIKE
Advice is like rice,
the old monk said.
You have to cook it.
~
EVEN AFTER THE BELL
Even after the bell
rings, if the teacher
is still talking,
the old monk said,
listen.
~
A NEW ROBE
A new robe
won't make
a better
man of me,
the old monk says,
but it might
keep me warmer.
~
YES, YES,
Yes, yes,
the old monk said,
you have good questions.
But you have yet to see
if they'll get you
on the mountain.
~
THE SOUND OF THE STARS
The sound of the stars
is what keeps me awake,
the old monk said.
They keep talking.
~
WELL, HERE IT COMES
Well, here it comes again,
the old monk said,
this emptiness,
and I didn't have to go
to New Mexico for it.
~
I'D TELL YOU
I'd tell you,
the old monk said,
but then it wouldn't
be a secret.
~
ONE HAND
One hand on the throttle
and one on the brake,
that's how you go
down the mountain,
the old monk said,
~
THIS IS HOW
This is how it works,
the old monk said,
pulling the hood
over his head.
Then he disappeared.
~
NOTICE
Notice how the rain
falls down,
the old monk said.
Think like that, like
the falling rain.
~
WHERE THE STARS
Saturday, May 29, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (57)
Friday, May 28, 2021
STOPS
Thursday, May 27, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (56)
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
WE WANT TO SEE
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (55)
Monday, May 24, 2021
STARS
Sunday, May 23, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (16)
SOMEONE
Someone I held
hands with, she
talked to God,
the old monk said.
~
IF YOU DON'T
If you don't eavesdrop
or listen for trains,
how do you know
what's coming,
the old monk asks.
~
WHAT I LIKE
What I like
is what I would like,
the old monk said.
~
WHERE DO YOU
Where do you get
your crazy ideas,
they asked
the old monk.
He said,
I listen to the stars.
~
DON'T WORRY
Don't worry
about it,
the old monk said.
Another
for you and
two for me
and we're good.
~
IF THEY LOCKED UP
If they locked up
every old monk,
the old monk said,
the prisons would fly!
~
SOMETIMES
Sometimes
you sit atop
a 50-foot pole
and are thought
a saint,
the old monk says.
Sometimes
you are
a saint.
~
DOES THE WALL
Does the wall
honor the bricklayer,
or the one who
made the bricks,
the old monk asks.
~
TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
Trying to understand
the difference between
said and says,
the old monk
just doesn't get it.
He'll tell you that himself.
~
DON'T HAGGLE
Don't haggle,
the old monk said.
I know what it's worth
and you know what it's worth.
Pay a fair price and
get out of here.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (54)
Saturday, May 22, 2021
THIS STILLNESS
Friday, May 21, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (53)
Thursday, May 20, 2021
WIND AS FAST
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (52)
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
EVEN
Monday, May 17, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (51)
Sunday, May 16, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (15)
MONK ROBES
Monk robes mean nothing
to the children.
They laugh and throw stones.
The old monk keeps talking.
~
A CUP OF WINE
A cup of wine
is the only
happiness
the old monk has.
Soon he will
have another.
~
I LIVE
I live in
the Valley of Fools,
the old monk says,
and look pretty
normal.
~
GET LOST
Get lost
on the mountain,
the old monk says,
the mountain
will find you.
~
IF LOAFING
If loafing meant
baking bread,
the old monk said,
I would be
better fed.
~
I CARRY MY HOME
Sometimes
I carry my home
in the sack
on my back,
the old monk says.
It isn't much,
but it's the home
I've got.
~
YOU TALK
You talk to no one
on the mountain,
the old monk said.
The wind is enough.
~
I HAVE SAT STILL
I have sat still so long,
the old monk says, now
stone calls me brother.
~
HOW DO I SURVIVE
How do I survive,
the old monk said.
Sometimes it’s the stars,
sometimes the berries.
~
HOW MUCH
How much do I have left
is a question you never
want to be in the position
of having to ask,
the old monk said.
~
HAWK'S EYES
Saturday, May 15, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (50)
Friday, May 14, 2021
DEER TRACKS
Thursday, May 13, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (49)
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
THE VANISHING POINT
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (48)
Monday, May 10, 2021
A ROAR OF HARLEYS
Sunday, May 09, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (14)
YOU GET
You get all
the silence
you invite,
the old monk said.
~
DOES A MONK
Does a monk
ever know
that he's a saint,
they asked.
Does the mule
know that he's
half a jackass,
the old monk said.
~
SOMETIMES THE TIGER
The old monk says,
sometimes the tiger
means business
and sometimes
you can pull his tail.
Don't get it wrong.
~
WHAT'S OVER
What's over the horizon,
the old monk says,
is not over its horizon.
~
HOW FAR ARE
How far are those
stars whose light
will never reach us,
the old monk wondered.
Farther than
imagination.
~
WHEN I SAY
When I say I know,
the old monk said,
I'm not saying
anything.
~
YOU WANT TO DEAL
You want to deal
with the devil,
the old monk said.
Go down to the crossroads.
He'll look like me.
~
STOP WEARING OUT
Stop wearing out the stars
trying to write all night,
the old monk told himself.
Do you think he listened?
~
I UNDERSTAND
I understand
how many places
I can stand
to be standing here,
the old monk said.
Every place.
~
THERE'S NOT SO MUCH
There's not so much
you can want
that you can't
want more,
the old monk
berated them.
~
IN SOME LANGUAGE (47)
Saturday, May 08, 2021
EVENING
Friday, May 07, 2021
FAILED MISSION TO MARS
The mistake they'll make
is failing to send
a poet to Mars.
You can't colonize
the universe
without poetry.
Thursday, May 06, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (46)
Wednesday, May 05, 2021
SHADOW
Tuesday, May 04, 2021
IN SOME LANGUAGE (45)
Sunday, May 02, 2021
TEN OLD MONK POEMS (13)
DON'T MAKE IT
The old monk says
don't make it sound
like I know something.
I don't.
~
IF YOU KEEP
If you keep doing nothing,
the old monk says,
pretty soon you'll be done.
~
I CAN'T SAY
I can't say
what what I say
is worth,
the old monk said.
I just want
a bowl of soup.
~
EVEN AFTER
Even after arguing,
the old monk says,
a friend comes back.
~
UPSIDE DOWN
Upside down and backwards,
the old monk says,
the only way some things make sense.
~
IF I COULD WRITE
If I could write
like Shakespeare,
the old monk said,
would I be holding
this beggar bowl?
~
I CAN LOOK
The old monk says,
I can look at me
and can look at you
and can see the devil
looking at us.
~
WHAT YOU HAVE
The old monk says,
Sometimes what you have
is all you get.
Even the stars
know this.
~
COUNT LIKE
Count like a poet,
the old monk says.
It's easy math.
~
HOW FAR
How far
do I want to go?
the old monk said.
All the way to
the gate and back.
~
